Three more Covid patients die in Northamptonshire hospitals as health chiefs carry on making case to get jabbed

Health chiefs in Northamptonshire admit they are frustrated by battling anti-vaccine myths as the number of jabs delivered in the county nears one million.

NHS England has confirmed three more coronavirus patients sadly died in Northamptonshire's two main hospitals since Thursday (July 22).

Hospital sources say the majority of those needing treatment for Covid-19 in Northampton General and Kettering General are unvaccinated.

Indications that cases are falling nationally has not been reflected here as the number of positive tests in Northamptonshire reported yesterday (Monday) was still more than ten per cent higher than the previous week.

More than 3,100 positive tests have been reported in the seven days compared to 2,600 up to last Monday (July 19).

Director of Public Health, Lucy Wightman, admitted: "We are still seeing quite a significant number of people who are ending up being quite unwell and needing hospitalisation."

More than 925,000 jabs were delivered in Northamptonshire by Sunday (July 25) including 411,294 adults who have had both jabs.

But still nearly three in ten people in Northampton and Corby have yet to take up the offer of even a first vaccine dose.

Mrs Wightman admits that many are wary of side-effects or believe that the vaccines were not rigorously tested before being approved.

She added: "It is really difficult to comprehend how it was rolled out so quickly and we are trying to give people the right information.

"It wasn't because they cut corners or didn't do all tests they would normally do. It was because of pressures around Covid escalating at the rate it did last year, they ran all the trials they usually run one after another concurrently instead of finishing one set of tests and then moving on to the next.

"That reduced the time it took to approve it by eight-to-ten fold.

"From a public health perspective it's an extraordinary step forward because it demonstrates we could be developing vaccines for all sorts of things much more quickly.

"What the public has seen is something that happened much more quicker than it would normally. But that's not because corners have been cut.

"No vaccine is ever completely risk free but catching Covid poses a much greater risk."

■ Covid-19 jabs are available without appointment seven days a week at the county's vaccination centre at Moulton Park and at several other sites around the county. Check HERE for the latest times.