A simplistic formula used to distribute coronavirus vaccines that did not take into account the size of GP practices has meant fewer people receiving one in London, according to the mayor, Sadiq Khan.
While areas such as Slough and Newcastle have successfully immunised 100% of their elderly care home residents, London is lagging behind in the vaccine race even as cases remain among the highest in the country.
Cases
GP practices there were supplied similar amounts of the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines as elsewhere without taking into account the number of registered patients, it is understood. City Hall sources said that GP networks in London tended to be larger, meaning there were fewer doses per patient. But ministers had acknowledged the error, and the mistake was being corrected, they added.
Figures from NHS England showed that London had the lowest number of people 388,437 who had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine despite being one of the largest NHS regions in England with a population of nearly 9 million.
The leading English region, the Midlands, had administered 713,602 first doses to its population of 10.6 million. People in north-east England and Yorkshire, whose population is similar to Londons at 8.6 million, had received 633,837 first doses.
On Monday alone the number of people being immunised in London was the second lowest in England, at 21,228, with only the south-west lower at 16,612. The Midlands achieved 32,560 and the north-east 23,153.
