Letter from the Mayor of London calling for a fair share of vaccine supply

Please see below a letter from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to Minister for Covid Vaccine Deployment, Nadhim Zahawi, about the supply and roll out of vaccines across the capital.

The Mayor is calling for a fair share of vaccine supply and has set out how the roll out should be prioritised and to address take up concerns.

The full text of the letter is below.

Dear Nadhim,

Thank you for the call with the M9. I thought it was an extremely helpful discussion. The vaccines offer light at what has felt like a very dark tunnel and this is our route out of this crisis in the short term, which will then allow us to build back over the long term. As I mentioned, I wanted to follow up with you on a number of issues with regard to both the vaccine supply and rollout, prioritisation and take up in the capital. They are set out below and I look forward to discussing these with you tomorrow.

Vaccine supply and roll out

I am seeking reassurance that the supply of the vaccine and the logistics of delivery to Primary Care Networks (PCNs) will not remain limiting factors in rolling out the vaccine at speed. This has been raised by partners across London.

London must receive its fair share of the vaccine supply, proportionate to the size and density of our population and level of need. You mentioned that you expect the distribution to be scaled up as more vaccines are made available. However, if the formula is still based on an equitable distribution to PCNs I am concerned this will result in London, and other areas with large populations, securing insufficient vaccine doses to protect their populations.

I welcome the publication of regional data, as is planned for tomorrow, and will work with you and London’s NHS, PCNs and Local Government to facilitate rapid distribution of the vaccine to the groups most in need. I welcome the commitment to transparency of the data and would ask to be kept informed on any barriers to the current roll out plan and to work with you and NHS London to help support the Government overcome these. I will do whatever I can to help you overcome any barriers.

Vaccine prioritisation

Last month I wrote to Matt Hancock and the JCVI welcoming the initial prioritisation of people living in care homes and care workers and that alongside care home staff, frontline NHS staff will also receive the vaccine as early on as possible. The JCVI recommends that phase two includes the roll out of the vaccine to others delivering key public services, which I welcome, and which should include prioritisation of key workers, including teachers, TfL staff and the Metropolitan Police who might be more vulnerable to infection due to the public-facing nature of their work and because they cannot work from home. We also need to consider shop workers and others working on the frontline.

Some BAME communities are over-represented in frontline occupations and have been disproportionally impacted by Covid. Black Londoners, for example, were at almost twice the risk of death from Covid-19 than white Londoners, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi men facing similarly high risks. Given what we now know about how the virus affects BAME communities, we must learn from the first wave about how this virus exacerbates inequalities and affects particular communities.

I therefore urge the Government to work with London leaders in preparation of a second phase of the roll out that may be more focused on occupation and roles that put people at greater risk.

Vaccine take-up

As I raised on the call, a large number of health and social care workers have yet to be vaccinated in London and ensuring that a far higher proportion can receive the vaccine as soon as possible will be a huge boost for morale. It is vital much greater numbers of staff are vaccinated in the weeks ahead. Data identifying uptake by this group, as part of the daily data update is imperative.

We also need to ensure we tackle hesitancy amongst certain groups. As was mentioned by other Mayors on the call, the Government and NHS England must also work with all partners in London, and across the regions, to reach those groups and communities that might be more likely to refuse the offer of a vaccine, for example in some BAME communities. There needs to be a supported targeted campaign with the necessary resources to reach and engage the UK’s diverse communities. Once again, I am keen to do whatever we can to assist.

Monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccination programme in all communities is essential to prevent widening of health inequalities caused by low uptake in particular groups. We are clear that data needs to provide a profile of factors such as age, small area geography, ethnic group and gender, as well as setting – like care home. And when we reach phase two, by occupational group. Transparency in the uptake of the vaccine is a key part of ensuring those who will gain the greatest benefit can access it. Given the need to address the disproportionate impacts, can we also ensure that ethnicity is recorded and forms part of the regular data reporting.

Finally, I mentioned when we spoke a conversation my team has had with Ministry of Health officials in the Israeli Government. One of the lessons they have learned from their successful vaccine delivery is the key role of their national help centre that fielded general inquiries with regard to the vaccine, its rollout and its distribution. Throughout this pandemic my team has looked at examples from other countries where things have worked well and, given this has been such a success in Israel, it is something your officials might want to consider. It could also assist in correcting much of the misinformation with regard to the vaccine both on social media and via direct messaging campaigns, as was raised in the call yesterday.

Thank you again for the call yesterday and I look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.

Yours sincerely,

Sadiq Khan Mayor of London