New 'get jabbed' call as Hartlepool Covid-19 rates soar

It comes as new figures show Hartlepool has the second biggest week-on-week rise in cases per 100,000 people out of 377 local authorities in the seven days to January 7.

NHS bosses say there are more than 210,000 vaccination appointments available on the National Booking Service in the region until Sunday and people can also use the NHS online walk-in finder to find their nearest walk-in site, or call 119.

Dr Yvette Oade, the NHS region’s clinical lead for the Covid-19 vaccination programme, says the priority remains on achieving the highest possible uptake of vaccine.

She said: “The achievements of the vaccination programme regionally and nationally have been excellent, but there remains work to be done.

“There was an acceleration of the vaccination programme from during December, so that all eligible adults have been offered Covid-19 vaccine doses.

"In the North East and Yorkshire we have delivered 4.6 million booster jabs and passed the milestone of 17 million doses since the programme began.

“We now need to encourage anyone who hasn’t yet come forward, together with those who have recently become eligible, to receive the vaccine."

She added: “In the North East and Yorkshire, more than one million people are eligible for vaccination but have not come forward.

"People who are unvaccinated are at risk of not protecting themselves, their families and those around them.

“Although some commentators have referred to Omicron as mild in terms of its symptoms, we should be aware evidence shows that for people who are unvaccinated, Covid-19 remains a serious illness, regardless of the variant concerned.”

Hartlepool’s confirmed cases rose by 1,754.1 per 100,000 people to 2,856 per 100,000 people between January 1-7.

This equates in real terms to a rise in infections from 1,646 to 2,680.

Only Middlesbrough had a higher rate, up from 1,904.7 per 100,000 people to 3,111.4 per 100,000 per people over the same period, translating as an increase in confirmed cases from 2,691 to 4,396.

The next walk-in vaccination clinic in Hartlepool is on Saturday, January 15, from 10am-5pm at the town’s Mill House Leisure Centre.

Bookings for other local appointments can also be made at www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/