A third of Londoners are completely unprotected

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The 14 areas in the country with the lowest vaccination uptake rates are all London boroughs (Image: PA/Reuters)

A third of people in London are not completely immune, with the Omicron variant progressing there.

The proportion of the population who did not receive a single injection is three times higher in London than in the rest of the country.

The 14 areas in the country with the lowest rates of vaccine uptake are all London boroughs, including Westminster where four out of ten have not had a single injection.

Although London’s population is smaller than the rest of the UK’s overall population, vaccination rates in each age group are lower in the city than in the rest of the country.

One of the biggest gaps is among 18-24 year olds, with London rates at 58% being 19 points behind 77% in the South West.

The majority of coronavirus cases in London are now Omicron, and the “increasing percentage of cases” across the country as a whole is the new variant.

The United Kingdom recorded 78,610 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest number since the pandemic began.

One reason for London’s low intake rate is likely to be the increasing number of trans people in the capital who lack connections with GP surgeries (Images: PA)

In all, 24,732,162 people have so far received a booster dose of the vaccine or a third dose, while 5,1332,920 have received at least a first dose.

But 11% of the UK population has yet to receive a single dose of the vaccine, a figure that rises to 32% in London.

Scotland is the most vaccinated part of the UK, with just 8.8% not receiving a single dose of the Covid vaccine.

Outside of London, the North West and West Midlands have the highest proportion of unvaccinated people at 21%.

The dominant strain of coronavirus in London is now the Omicron variant (Credits: REUTERS)

One reason for London’s low rate of uptake is likely to be an increase in the capital’s transient population that lacks links with GP surgeries.

Professor Paul Hunter, an epidemiologist at the University of East Anglia, told The Times that the low turnout in London was “probably due to a number of things”.

London has an ethnically diverse population and it has been difficult to roll out the vaccine to some ethnic groups, so I’m sure that’s part of it.

“There is a lot of poverty in parts of London, and that kind of thing also affects the uptake of vaccinations,” he said.

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