Sadiq Khan quizzed on London crime by Susanna Reid

When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they’ll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The B.1.617.2 variant first detected in India has been recorded in the UK in recent weeks and cases continue to rise. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky News there is a “high degree of confidence” the current vaccines are effective against the variant. However, Mr Hancock said the strain can “spread like wildfire” among people who are unvaccinated, urging people who are eligible to take up their offer of a vaccine.

Mr Hancock also said this week that the Indian variant was “becoming the dominant strain in some parts of the country”.

Mr Hancock said on Monday there have been 2,323 confirmed cases of the B.1.617.2 variant in the UK.

This means there has been a 77 percent increase in confirmed cases of the variant over the last five days, with five or more cases of the variant confirmed in 86 local authorities.

Bolton is currently England’s hotspot for the B.1.617.2 variant, but cases have also been recorded in London in recent weeks.

Which London boroughs have the Indian variant?

According to the Government website, as of May 17 surge testing is being carried out in some areas of the North West.

Surge testing is also being carried out in targeted areas in Redditch in the West Midlands.

Several areas of London are also undergoing surge testing to help get Covid cases under control.

However, it is not clear whether the surge testing is being carried out to identify cases of the Indian variant or other variants.

Areas in London where surge testing is being carried out are:

• Hillingdon Council (targeted areas within the HA4 postcode in Ruislip)
• Hackney Council (targeted areas within Shoreditch and Dalston)
• Redbridge Council (targeted areas within the IG1 and IG6 postcode areas and small parts of the IG5 and IG7 postcode areas)
• Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (targeted areas within the W11 postcode)

DON’T MISS: 
Care home resident hugged for first time in over a year [INSIGHT]
NHS App’s Covid travel passport out TODAY: How to get vaccine passport [ANALYSIS]
Covid hotspots MAPPED: 104 areas where cases are rising [MAP]

As early data suggests the Covid vaccines are effective against the Indian variant, there has been a push to get people to take up the offer of a vaccine in affected areas.

At the moment, the vaccine is being offered to people in eligible groups, but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has asked ministers to offer vaccines to younger people in areas of London affected by the new variant as well.

Mr Khan has asked Mr Hancock and vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi for the “flexibility to give younger people the vaccine in those parts of London concerned about this strain”.

The Mayor of London told Sky News on Monday: “We are saying be nimble in those pockets where we know there is an issue. Let’s use those vaccines sensibly.

“We know which parts of our city are a concern. In those particular boroughs, we should be operating a hyper-local approach and encouraging those who are younger, and would have to wait a few weeks, to have the vaccine now to avoid this strain spreading.”

However, Downing Street said the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) had advised that the best way to protect against the new variant was to ensure vulnerable groups got their second dose of the vaccine.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a decision made by the JCVI about how best to deploy the vaccines we have, but we have deployed thousands more additional doses in Bolton so they can do this work of getting vaccinations to people.”

He said: “We want every part of the country to abide by the advice set out by the JCVI, it’s this unified approach that has allowed us to proceed so quickly with our vaccine rollout.”

Source: Read Full Article