A councillor was shocked to find three very different attitudes to coronavirus vaccinations when she went out and about encouraging people to have the jab.
Some were pleased to have had their jab but others either hadn’t been bothered or were affected by hostility to the vaccines.
Labour councillor Amanda Grimshaw spoke out after delivering leaflets urging people to have the vaccine in north Moulsecoomb, an area with the lowest vaccination rate in Brighton and Hove.
She was surprised to hear about an elderly couple whose family members had put them off having the jab.
The Moulsecoomb and Bevendean councillor had thought that the low level of vaccination in the area was linked to the nature of the local population, with a significant number of transient students.
Some 44 per cent have had their first dose of the vaccine and just 23 per cent have had both doses in the North Moulsecoomb and Coldean area, including Stanmer and Falmer.
As she gave out leaflets urging people to go to a walk-in vaccination bus at St George’s Hall, in Newick Road, the first person she spoke to was a woman whose brother died from covid-19. But elderly relatives were being discouraged from taking up the vaccine.
Councillor Grimshaw said: “I was shocked when a woman called me back to talk to me. She wanted to tell me about the situation where she has lost her brother but in her family the elderly relatives were being fed rubbish.
“I was even more shocked that her brother had died and, in a close family grouping following a young death, they were fed propaganda.
“They were told they were being used as guinea pigs.
“The woman was doubled vaccinated and made a point of saying these family members are quite elderly and have health issues, making them vulnerable. Yet they were being told not to do it.”
Councillor Grimshaw told a group of students that they had no excuse for failing to have the vaccine.
She said: “One of them said, we were down for vaccination and we never got around to it.
“They were told to go and it fell off the radar. I handed him the leaflet and said, ‘There’s no excuse. It’s around the corner.’”
At least 22 people attended the drop-in vaccination bus when it visited St George’s Hall last Wednesday (28 July).
Councillors are working with the NHS and community groups to encourage more people to have the jab.
Brighton and Hove City Council’s Green leader Phélim Mac Cafferty has been out with the council’s communities and equalities team to encourage people to visit pop-up vaccination sites.
Councillor Mac Cafferty represents Brunswick and Adelaide ward which has the third-lowest take up rate in Brighton and Hove.
In the Brunswick area, 59 per cent of over 18s have had their first dose and 42 per cent have had their second dose.
The second lowest vaccination rate is in The Lanes and the North Laine area.
The highest number of vaccinations in Brighton and Hove took place on Saturday 20 March when more than 4,000 had their jabs.
But since the start of last month, vaccination levels have fallen from more than 800 a day to a seven-day average of 157 a day.
Across Brighton and Hove, 73 per cent of people in total have had their first dose and 54 per cent the second. The rate is higher than Southampton, Reading, Birmingham, Manchester and several London boroughs.
Good for councillors to be doing this. Amazing that people think covid will not hit them – with all its potential for a painful death.
And then such people will complain when there is another lockdown in a few weeks’ time as winter draws on.
The reason there may be another lockdown is because all of the people who have been vaccinated are now ignoring previous safety measures and spreading about all over the place. It’s quite disturbing that needs to be explained to you…
Goes to show as much as people cry democracy at the idea, vaccine passports need to rolled out. No jab should = no pubs, clubs, cinema, uni, college, or public transport.
It’s proven to be safe, there is literally no reason not to get it other than selfishness or stupidity, which unfortunately is a Brighton pandemic.
Dave, Covid’s proven to be safe too, the majority of people who’ve had Covid have survived.
On what evidence do you claim the vaccines have been “proven to be safe”? And over what period of time? Which reports of fatalities and adverse reactions are you ignoring or not seeing reported by mainstream media? They’re still all in clinical trial stages!
To be exact, t hasnt been proven to be safe in the long term. And if you think selfishness and stupidity are a Brighton problem then go somewhere else and see how you get on.
Equally, all staff working for Brighton Council should have to have it or be sacked, set an example.
If she thinks the low turn out was due to a high number of students then she does not know how real people think and should not be in her position at all