Leeds’ vaccine bus clocks nearly 3,500 jabs following eight-month road trip

The Leeds covid-19 vaccine minibus came to the end of the road last month following a successful journey vaccinating thousands of people in low uptake areas across Leeds.

During its eight-month programme, the bus vaccinated 3,446 people in areas of low vaccine uptake. 747 jabs were delivered at ‘pop up’ locations where people wanted the vaccination but said they had struggled to access it at other locations, such as their GP practice or at the main vaccination centre at Elland Road.

The highest uptake on the bus was amongst 40–50 year olds and 30-40 year olds – two age groups where general uptake across the city is generally lower. The proportion of uptake amongst people from ethnic minority communities was also considerably higher than at the larger vaccination centres across Leeds.

Joanna Forster Adams, Chief Operating Officer at Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Our approach as a city was to make accessing the vaccination as easy as possible for all our citizens. We wanted to work alongside communities where it might be more challenging for people to access the larger vaccination hubs and support people to understand how the vaccine could benefit them.

“The bus helped us to take the vaccination and the message about its importance right into the heart of these communities.

“We had particular success in men aged 30-50 which is a group of individuals who have not traditionally engaged with the vaccine service.

“Whilst it was our staff who ran the clinics on the bus, and of whom I’m very proud, the whole thing was a proper Team Leeds effort. We had colleagues from across the NHS, Leeds City Council, local third sector and many others who volunteered their time. All of them played their part to make it a success.”

Jack Rutter, pictured above giving an interview to the local TV news, was the Clinical Lead for the Leeds vaccination minibus. He said: “It was a great experience taking this potentially lifesaving vaccine out into the communities where it was really needed.

“We had a really good response from all the local communities we’ve visited over the past eight months. Lots of people who had the vaccine told us that they wouldn’t have had it if the minibus hadn’t been here.”

“I’d like to thank those in the communities where we parked for making us so welcome and for helping us to build trust with local people.”