Credit: Tirza van Dijk, Unsplash
Stephen has urged the NHS to open a vaccination centre in East Ham. His comments followed analysis by LBC which found that nearly a third (29%) of the 100 worst-hit constituencies in England have no vaccination centre.
Last week the Sunday Times identified the relative levels of vaccine provision across constituencies in England. LBC then used a method developed by statistician Dan Cookson to map local infection rates onto Parliamentary constituencies. By combining the two sets of data, they were able to pinpoint areas with high infection rates that are currently left out of the vaccine rollout.
The study found that East Ham was the second worst area of England with no vaccine centre, although it acknowledged that there are two nearby at the Sir Ludwig Guttmann Health Centre and the Greengate Medical Centre.
Speaking about the research, Stephen said: “I’m very keen my constituents should get fast and efficient access to the vaccines. Neither of Newham’s vaccination centres are in East Ham. That means they’re not easy for my constituents to get to. But I’m assured the NHS is paying taxi fares to make sure people can reach them. I know NHS staff are also visiting care homes in East Ham to carry out vaccinations on the spot. I definitely want to see vaccination centres in East Ham very soon.”
The Department for Health says that hundreds more vaccine sites are due to come online over the next few weeks and that where possible, roving vaccine teams will aim to visit vulnerable people at their usual place of residence.