Nearly half of late teens in Hertfordshire have had first Covid jab

There had been general concerns that the younger age group may be less willing to take up the offer of the vaccine.

But early data shows that young people in Hertfordshire have been keen to get the jab.

At a media briefing on Tuesday (August 24) Hertfordshire’s director of public health Jim McManus said 45 per cent of 15-19 year-olds had already had a first dose.

He said: "There may be anecdotal reports of people in this age group being vaccine hesitant.

"But the numbers are quite clearly showing that half of them, nearly, have already had their first dose."

At the briefing, Mr McManus pointed to "encouraging" take-up rates in older age groups too.

He reported that four out of five county residents over 45 – around 80 per cent – had now had two doses of the vaccine.

And amongst the 20-24 year-olds, he said 68 per cent of the county’s residents have had at least one dose – and 36 per cent have had two.

Jim McManus, director of public health in Hertfordshire

Overall in Hertfordshire, 743,536 over 18s have been fully vaccinated against Covid, which is 73 per cent of the county's adult population.

There have been 832,846 first doses dished out, which is 81.8 per cent. These figures are as of August 23.

As part of the update given on Tuesday, Mr McManus highlighted a surge in cases of Covid-19 in July – when rates in the county hit a peak of 548 cases per 100,000 population.

And although, he said, levels had since "plateaued" he said the virus was "very happily circulating" – and is "efficiently" finding the unvaccinated, with younger adults now at greatest risk of infection.

Mr McManus confirmed that the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 in the county had increased – mostly in those unvaccinated, saying the "vast majority" of people who are ill and in hospital are people who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

On August 17 - the latest date of data available - Public Health England's dashboard recorded there were 55 Covid patients being cared for across West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust (27) and East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust (28).