£22.5m for new community push to get nation boosted

An additional £22.5 million in funding and an army of vaccine ambassadors have been deployed across the country to encourage vaccine uptake in the run up to Christmas and the New year.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has made the funding available with the Community Vaccines Champion scheme set to target 60 local authorities with the lowest vaccine uptake.

It will be used to run events in communities across the country to make sure everyone has access to the most accurate and up-to-date health advice, and fund pop-up vaccination centres in places of worship. The community Vaccine Champions will tap into their local networks to provide advice about coronavirus and the vaccines.

Champions will also work with councils to identify barriers to accessing accurate information and to provide tailored support, such as phone calls for people who are digitally excluded, helplines, and linking to GP surgeries.

More than 14,000 volunteers have joined the Community Champions scheme – helping the vulnerable and isolated across the country throughout the pandemic. The government is now building on this success and launching the Community Vaccine Champions scheme – with local people using their trusted voice to encourage people in their community to come forward and get vaccinated.

Health and Social Care Secretary Sajid Javid said: “We are in a race between the virus and vaccine and we are doing everything in our power to get jabs in arms as quickly as possible. We are calling on people to Get Boosted Now as part of our national mission to reinforce our wall of defence against the rapid spread of Omicron. I want to thank the thousands of people who have heroically stepped up to support our vaccine drive. We’re all in this together - please play your part.”

The funding will also support areas to tackle misinformation and encourage take-up as the vaccination programme continues across the country.