National effort to vaccinate vulnerable communities receives funding boost
Community Vaccine Champions from Bradford to Brighton will be tapping into their local networks and encouraging people in their community to come forward and get vaccinated.
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Councils with low vaccine uptake awarded share of 拢22.5 million to get hard-to-reach communities vaccinated
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60 councils to benefit from Community Vaccine Champions scheme which will mobilise thousands of volunteers
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Part of national drive for people to be vaccinated in fight against Omicron - An army of vaccine volunteers will help millions of people in hard-to-reach communities get jabbed, backed by 拢22.5 million of government funding.
Community Vaccine Champions from Bradford to Brighton will be tapping into their local networks and encouraging people in their community to come forward and get vaccinated.
The funding, allocated today to 60 councils, will provide an opportunity to deliver bespoke projects in their region, help identify barriers to accessing accurate information and provide tailored support, such as phone calls for people without easy access to digital technology, helplines, and linking to GP surgeries as well as other initiatives, including:
- In Derby and Newham roving vaccinators and a vaccine bus will visit workplaces, places of worship and local highstreets.
- Videos shared on social media featuring local sporting stars, TV actors, local community and faith leaders and local NHS staff in Southampton.
- Developing a community transport in Reading to support access to vaccination sites/pop-ups (working with existing local community) and considering 鈥楪rab a Jab鈥� taxis scheme.
According to NHS statistics, over 4.6 million people aged 18 or older remained unvaccinated in the 60 local authorities selected to take part in the Community Vaccine Champions programme.
Communities Minister Kemi Badenoch MP said:
鈥淚n England more than 80% of eligible adults over 18 have had a booster and for over 50s it is 90%. This is a great take-up so far, but we need to do more as we know that the unvaccinated are up to eight times more likely to be hospitalised than those who are jabbed.鈥�
鈥淏y funding Community Vaccine Champions 鈥� an army of volunteers who are at the heart of their communities - we can reach those yet to be vaccinated and encourage them to protect themselves and the NHS.鈥�
Councillor John Merry, Deputy City Mayor and Lead Member for Adult Services, Health and Wellbeing at Salford City Council said:
鈥淭he support we received via the Community Vaccine Champions scheme has been vital in our fight against COVID-19. This financial boost has enabled us to roll out a range of activity to improve vaccination take up across the city and tackle vaccine hesitancy among some of our communities.鈥�
Vaccines Minister Maggie Throup said:
鈥淭hanks to the pace and scale of our COVID-19 vaccination programme, we are in a much better position than this time last year.鈥�
鈥淲e are doing everything we can to reach those who haven鈥檛 yet come forward for their jabs and we know some people are more likely to listen to those they trust, such as community and religious leaders - that鈥檚 why we are giving extra funding to our brilliant Community Champions.鈥�
鈥淭he offer of a vaccine will always be available, it鈥檚 not too late. Please come forward as soon as you can so we can learn to live with this virus.鈥�
In December 2021, according to NHS statistics, over 4.6 million people aged 18 or older remained unvaccinated in the 60 local authorities we have selected to take part in the Community Vaccine Champions programme.
More than 14,000 volunteers joined the first Community Champions scheme in 2021 鈥� helping the vulnerable and isolated across the country throughout the pandemic.
Further information
Regions being funded and breakdowns
Of the 60 local authorities selected, those local authorities (22) which received funding for the first Community Champions programme were eligible for a 拢185,000 top up grant from the Community Vaccine Champions programme. Those local authorities which didn鈥檛 receive funding from the first Community Champions programme (38) were entitled to bid for up to 拢485,000 from the Community Vaccine Champions programme
East Midlands - 拢1,640,000
- Boston 拢185,000
- Derby 拢485,000
- Leicester 拢485,000
- Nottingham 拢485,000
East of England - 拢2,516,500
- Cambridge 拢391,500
- Ipswich 拢185,000
- Luton 拢485,000
- Peterborough 拢485,000
- Thurrock 拢485,000
- Welwyn Hatfield 拢485,000
London - 拢10,971,500
- Barking & Dagenham 拢485,000
- Barnet 拢461,500
- Brent 拢185,000
- Camden 拢485,000
- Croydon 拢485,000
- Ealing 拢485,000
- Enfield 拢485,000
- Greenwich 拢185,000
- Hackney 拢185,000
- Hammersmith & Fulham 拢485,000
- Haringey 拢185,000
- Harrow 拢185,000
- Hillingdon 拢185,000
- Hounslow 拢485,000
- Islington 拢484,689
- Kensington and Chelsea 拢485,000
- Kingston upon Thames 拢485,000
- Lambeth 拢485,000
- Lewisham 拢185,000
- Merton 拢485,000
- Newham 拢485,000
- Redbridge 拢485,000
- Richmond upon Thames 拢485,000
- Southwark 拢485,000
- Tower Hamlets 拢485,000
- Waltham Forest 拢485,000
- Wandsworth 拢485,000
- Westminster 拢485,000
North East - 拢370,000
- Middlesbrough 拢185,000
- Newcastle upon Tyne 拢185,000
North West - 拢1,710,000
- Knowsley 拢485,000
- Lancaster 拢485,000
- Liverpool 拢185,000
- Manchester 拢185,000
- Preston 拢185,000
- Salford 拢185,000
South East - 拢2,425,000
- Brighton and Hove 拢485,000
- Oxford 拢485,000
- Reading 拢485,000
- Slough 拢485,000
- Southampton 拢485,000
South West - 拢485,000
- Bristol, City of 拢485,000
West Midlands - 拢740,000
- Birmingham 拢185,000
- Coventry 拢185,000
- Sandwell 拢185,000
- Wolverhampton 拢185,000
Yorkshire and Humber - 拢1,040,000
- Bradford 拢185,000
- Kingston upon Hull 拢485,000
- Leeds 拢185,000
- Sheffield 拢185,000
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