As many as 430,000 adults in our region do not yet have protection from three doses of the coronavirus vaccine, figures show.

The roll-out of the booster jab, which prime minister Boris Johnson said on December 13 would be offered to all eligible adults by December 31, sped up last week with its expansion to all adults over 18.

Uptake rates for the booster jab - seen as vital to combat the threat of the Omicron variant - vary between districts, from 71pc in north Norfolk to 43pc in Norwich, influenced partly by age demographic and deprivation rates.

Across Norfolk, East Suffolk and Fenland, as of December 20 there were still 434,634 adults who have not had all three (first, second and booster) jabs, latest figures from the UK Health and Security Agency (HSA) show, with 132,829 who haven’t had a first and 160,752 who haven’t had a second.

The figure is roughly 40pc of the area's total population, which the HSA takes from the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS).

It comes as reports nationally suggest significant numbers of patients requiring treatment in hospital are unvaccinated.

In Breckland, as of December 20, the uptake for the booster is 63pc (76,111 doses so far), compared to 66pc in Broadland (73,513), 53pc in Great Yarmouth (46,608), 60pc in King’s Lynn and West Norfolk (79,698), 71pc in north Norfolk (64,471), 65pc in south Norfolk (77,089), 55pc in Fenland (49,585) and 65pc in East Suffolk (138,662).

Norwich has recorded the lowest uptake, of 43pc (56,445).

In the week up to December 19, there were 143,041 booster doses administered, with figures across the region varying, the Office for National Statistics says.

On Wednesday, December 15, appointments were opened up to everyone aged 18 and above, leading to a rush in demand which saw the NHS online booking system crash.

There had been queues at large-scale vaccination sites in the days before, as people sought to find a walk-in appointment.

Norfolk and Waveney has largely had good rates of vaccination relative to national figures, with north Norfolk’s uptake putting it at 11th in the country out of 307 local authorities according to the ONS.

Factors influencing uptake include an area’s age demographic - more of those living in an area with an older population will have had the chance to have a booster jab earlier.

But deprivation is also a factor, and explains traditionally lower uptake in Norwich and Yarmouth, where pockets of it can be found.

The Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has said there is a "very strong" correlation between higher levels of deprivation and lower uptake.

A spokesperson previously said it had been a "significant focus for some time" and had seen the body use mobile vaccination buses for harder to reach areas, as well as leafleting and door-knocking.

  • The figures in this article are based on population data from NIMS, the system of record for the vaccination programme, rather than Office for National Statistics population data from June 2020.