MORE young people in Bradford are being encouraged to get vaccinated against Covid-19, amid new figures suggesting that over a fifth of those admitted to hospital with the virus are aged between 18 and 34.

NHS England says that younger people now make up more than 20 per cent of those hospitalised with coronavirus, a number which is up from just over five per cent at the peak of the winter wave back in January.

Young people who have already had the jab are now urging others to follow suit, with over 1,500 people making use of the new walk-in vaccination clinic at The Broadway shopping centre so far.

19-year-old Christie Dobson is one of those who received the vaccine at the walk-in centre.

“I came to get it to protect myself and my family. It was easy. If you’ve not had it yet, come down and get it done", she said.

Adam Brian, who is 34 and lives in Clayton, has contracted Covid twice. He described it as the "worst thing" he has ever had, adding that getting vaccinated is "the right thing to do".

“I fell ill with Covid the second time while I was in Wales, training for the army", he explained.

"I don’t want that to happen again. I’m now on the mend, but I’m still struggling with my fitness.

“I have never, ever had anything like it before - it was the worst thing I have ever had in my life. It’s killing people, and getting the jab is the right thing to do. If you’ve not had the jab yet, go and get it.”

Muhammad Khalid, who is 36 and from Barkerend, also said that he wanted to play his part in getting “the whole world out of the pandemic” by getting jabbed.

“The only way we are going to get out of this is by having the jab. I wanted to protect myself and my family, too. It’s the best thing to do", he added.

Rukeya Miah, Deputy Associate Director of Nursing/Senior Midwife at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has played a leading role in organising vaccination sessions throughout Bradford, and said vaccinators and support staff were also playing a key role in debunking vaccine myths.

“Despite the national calls, we are finding that the younger age group are not planning and booking jabs at vaccinations centres like older groups are", she said.

“So we started looking at ways in which we could bring the vaccine to them, by targeting accessible and convenient areas and high footfall areas.

“We had already done pop-up clinics in supermarkets, but we hadn’t done shopping centres. So the development of a pop-up vaccination hub for our Act as One system’s use seemed to offer lots of potential and an opportunity to engage with the community differently, and help desensitise some of the myths and anxieties which have emerged.

“On our first day at The Broadway we had queues out the door, and we have since vaccinated people from all age groups and ethnic backgrounds, with the majority of people being first-timers.”

All walk-in clinics are offering first and second doses, with most offering Pfizer vaccines for people under 40 and the AstraZeneca jab to those over 40 and people who require a second AZ dose.

Details of all the clinics across Bradford District and Craven are available at https://bit.ly/VaccineWalkInClinic.