Almost a third of young adults in England had still not received a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of July 2021, according to NHS England estimates.
The figures showed that 68.1 per cent of people aged 18 to 29 had been given a first jab by 25 July, which means about 31.9 per cent had not. That is equivalent to roughly 2.7 million adults under 30. A week earlier the unvaccinated share in the same age group had stood at 33.6 per cent.
Gap between men and women
Uptake was noticeably lower among young men. Among 25 to 29 year olds, 73 per cent of women had received a first dose compared with 66.3 per cent of men. In the 18 to 24 group the figures were 70 per cent for women and 62.2 per cent for men.
Big differences between areas
The picture varied widely across the country. In several local authority areas fewer than half of 18 to 24 year olds had come forward, including Birmingham and Islington, both at 41.9 per cent, Liverpool, Lewisham, Waltham Forest, Barking and Dagenham, Welwyn Hatfield, Coventry and Manchester.
Among 25 to 29 year olds the lowest estimates were in Coventry (42.7 per cent), Nottingham (47 per cent), Birmingham (47.4 per cent) and Barking and Dagenham (49.7 per cent). Elsewhere, some areas had already given a first dose to more than nine in ten people in the younger group.
The wider rollout
Across all ages the programme was close to its end stage for first doses. By 28 July around 39.2 million first doses had been delivered in England, which covered about 88.2 per cent of the adult population, up from 87.7 per cent a week before.
Under-30s had been the last age group invited to book, and health officials ran walk-in clinics, pop-up sites at festivals and sports grounds and social media campaigns aimed at people in their twenties to close the gap through the summer.
All adults in England could book a first or second dose through the NHS website or by calling 119, and many areas offered appointments without booking.
Sources: NHS England vaccination estimates to 25 July 2021 and PA news agency analysis published on 1 August 2021.