Health Watch survey seeks views from Leeds people on the vaccine as take-up decreases in lower age groups

Health Watch Leeds are conducting the questionnaire to gauge whether people will take up the vaccine when offered, how they feel about it and where they are getting their information from.

It follows a push by the NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group, which is responsible for most NHS services in the area, to encourage that age group to take the jab as it seems there is less demand for it than older and more vulnerable cohorts and concerns over other health issues such as pregnancy.

A spokesperson said: "We want to support the CCG to make sure that the correct information is getting to people that need to hear it."

On Thursday it was revealed that a letter to local health leaders in England asked vaccination centres and community pharmacy-led services to close unfilled bookings and "ensure no further appointments are uploaded" to booking systems in April.

NHS bosses said that as a result of the supply issues, people under the age of 50 should only get the jab if they are in a priority group, meaning younger adults could face a longer wait to be be vaccinated especially as many people will be due second doses.

Health Watch Leeds added: "We have not seen or heard from people saying that they are concerned but if they are, we would be happy to hear that."

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson had his vaccine in London last night, while countries including France, Germany and Italy re-started their vaccine programmes with the AstraZeneca jab - reversing an earlier decision to suspend it over blood clot concerns.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said the AstraZeneca vaccine was "safe and effective" and its benefits in preventing Covid-19 hospital admission and death greatly outweighed potential risks.

It comes as new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that around one in 340 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to March 13, down from around one in 270 the week before.

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