PEOPLE in Bradford are being urged to get the Covid-19 vaccine if they have not yet taken up the offer to avoid the district ending up like Blackburn or Bolton.

Fewer than ten cases of the highly-transmissible Indian variant of Covid have been picked up so far in Bradford, but the scenes in those Lancashire towns have shown how quickly an outbreak can spread.

To avoid a similar situation in Bradford, the Council and NHS have been holding pop-up and drop-in vaccine clinics to boost uptake in areas of low vaccination.

Those who have been offered the jab but have so far refused it are being urged to come forward, particularly those in the most vulnerable groups such as the over 50s, people with underlying health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and being obese, and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.

Sarah Muckle, Bradford Council's director of public health, said: “So far we have identified fewer than 10 cases of this variant in the Bradford district and our local public health teams are working hard to detect and isolate these cases.

“It’s vital that Bradford learns from other areas. What we see in Bolton and Blackburn is that the variant spreads really quickly among populations where there are lower rates of vaccination.

“We need to act now, to protect ourselves against the new variant of COVID-19 and I’d urge people to please get vaccinated – even if you’ve said no in the past, it’s not too late to change your mind and get protected.”

Earlier this week drop-in clinics were held at Whetley Medical Centre in Manningham and a mobile clinic was set up in a supermarket car park in Thornbury, with hundreds of people coming forward to get vaccinated.

More clinics are being planned for the coming weeks, and those eligible for the jab - anyone aged 34 or over - can also book their vaccine online at the NHS website or by calling 119.