Vaccine roll-out in borough going well but more work still to do, reports James Cracknell

Enfield is leading North London in the race to vaccinate against Covid-19, government data show.

The borough is approaching the milestone of 200,000 first doses administered and, with second doses, Enfield has almost reached 150,000 doses, around half of all adults.

It puts Enfield eighth out of the capital’s 32 boroughs for first doses, and fifth in London for second doses. No other North London borough has vaccinated a larger proportion of its population.

However, London as a whole is lagging behind the rest of the country in vaccinations, as the worst-performing region, and Enfield’s vaccine uptake remains below the UK average. Wales is the highest-vaccinated part of the UK.

Enfield doctor Ujjal Sarkar works for Medicus Health Partners, which runs several local GP surgeries and has helped organise the vaccine roll-out in the borough. He credits the speedy vaccine delivery in Enfield to a well-organised operation between GP practices and says the focus is now on efforts to persuade people in vulnerable categories who have not yet been vaccinated that the jabs are safe – and that the far greater risk to their health is in remaining unvaccinated.

Dr Sarkar told the Dispatch: “We have worked closely with the local authority’s public health team, with the local CCG [clinical commissioning group] and Enfield GP Federation to ensure that we continue to improve vaccine cohort penetration and help support patients, where there is hesitancy, to come forward.”

Covid-19 cases recorded in Enfield have been rising since May and have now reached similar levels to those seen in late February. However, the number of Covid-19 patients being treated at North Middlesex Hospital remains low – seven at the start of this week.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the next ‘unlocking’ date for pandemic restrictions would be postponed by four weeks, to Monday 19^th July, because of the rapid spread of the Delta variant of Covid-19. Enfield is on track to have vaccinated more than 70% of the borough’s adult population with a first dose by this date.

If you are 18 or over, have a health condition that puts you at greater risk, or are a registered unpaid carer, you can book a Covid-19 vaccine appointment without any invitation:
Call 119
Visit nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

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