Published on the 29th January 2021
I've received a new vaccination update from our Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS South East London CCG, which covers Orpington.
These figures cover the boroughs of Bromley, Bexley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. The CCG is not able to share a borough breakdown yet, but they hope to provide one soon, which I will share with you.
The CCG has administered approximately 145,000 vaccine doses across South East London as of the 25 January. This is up from 80,000 a week ago.
This is more than half of the jabs needed to vaccinate the four priority groups by mid-February. I am pleased to report that over 98% of care home vaccinations have been completed.
Nationally, more than 7.4 million people have received their first dose. This means more than 10% of the UK’s population have been vaccinated.
I also wanted to update you on the latest coronavirus figures locally. The spread of the virus continues to slow, but we still have a long way to go to get it back under control.
The London Borough of Bromley's infection rate has fallen to 394.5 cases per 100,000 people in the week up to the 23 January.
That's more than a 65% reduction in the infection rate since cases peaked in the borough at the beginning of January.
While the lockdown is achieving the aim of reducing the rate of infection, the local NHS is still under severe pressure. As of 26 January, there were 670 coronavirus patients across King’s College NHS Trust. This is down slightly from the peak 764 patients on the 18 January.
It’s vital that we continue to stay home to save lives. Although the infection rate is falling, we remain in a very dangerous situation.
As the Prime Minister outlined earlier this week, the situation means that Orpington’s schools cannot reopen safely after half-term as first hoped. If we continue to make good progress, the Government hopes they can reopen from the 8 March.
After the top four priority groups have been vaccinated by mid-February, the Government will review the situation and will set a timetable for reopening the country. Until then, we must all do our bit to slow the spread of the virus by staying home.