Lack of vaccination by men under 40 identified in Bracknell

Although young people in the area appear eager to take the vaccine to go to festivals, travel, and protect themselves, council officials have noted that men have been slower to get vaccinated compared to other groups.

The issue was discussed in a meeting of Bracknell Forest Council’s Local Outbreak Engagement Board, where the head of its communication department presented an update on the council’s coronavirus awareness campaigns.

The communications head Alayna Razzell hinted that vaccination uptake among 25 to 40 year olds was ‘slower’ than those in other demographics, and announced that the council will target its messaging in gyms and pubs in an effort to boost the area’s vaccination coverage.

READ MORE: New Covid variant could see UK return to lockdown, scientists warn

Alayna Razzell, head of communications and marketing said: “Over the past month our focus has been to continue to promote vaccinations, specifically around younger people who are now eligible, and we’ve had quite a few younger people come forward, certainly the 16-19 cohort, and we’ve seen a lot of people coming forward at ‘Grab a Jab’.

“Communications is reaching lots of young people, we’re using a lot of case studies and examples of real people, because we know that’s where it’s made a real difference before to encourage that behaviour change, and to really focus on what it means to them, getting back to festivals, getting back to schools, getting back to life.”

In an effort to reach out to younger people, the council brought in teenage singing stars Max and Harvey to do a video to encourage fans to get the vaccine that was shared on Twitter.

READ MORE: Bracknell X Factor stars encourage people to get vaccinated

While uptake among young people has been growing since vaccinations were opened to 16+ year olds on Monday, August 23, there are concerns about men who have been slower to take the vaccine than their counterparts.

Alyana Razzell continued “We do know that we still have a little bit of work to do to with some of the cohorts, specifically around men under 40, who are not in the young age group but their certainly over 25 to 40 where their just slower in coming forward, they are coming forward but they are just a bit slower.

“So [we’re thinking] how do we encourage them to come forward and get their jabs and protect themselves, protect their families, protect their loved ones and get back to some sense of normality.”

The council is devising a campaign targetting gyms, barbers and pubs in an effort to reach these men. It is also promoting vaccine walk-in centres and making sure information on how to make an appointment.

There are concerns men between 25-40 are slow in getting their vaccines

The update on the council’s coronavirus messaging was delivered at a meeting of its Local Outbreak Engagement Board at 4pm on September 7.

In total, 168,927 people have had either the first or the second dose of a coronavirus vaccine in Bracknell Forest. 80,221 people have had the second dose, and 88,706 the first dose.

By percentages, 83.5 per cent of people have had the first dose, and 75.7 per cent of people have had their second dose.

Coronavirus cases are plateauing after a spike in the infection rate in July. 52 new coronavirus cases were reported  on Tuesday, September 7.

Younger people have been quick to get the jab, whereas men between 25-40 are 'slower' to have the vaccine

The infection rate – the number of people who have tested positive per 100,000- currently stands at 318.1 cases, according to Public Health Berkshire.

That is down from a high of 637.4 cases recorded on July 19.

Sadly, two people died fter testing positive for coronavirus between August 21 and August 27. A total of 196 people have died  since the pandemic began.

These figures were all reported  on Tuesday, September 7.