Coronavirus: people in UK travel hundreds of miles for Chinatown shots
- Pop-up clinic in London’s Chinatown attracts thousands wanting Covid-19 vaccine jab
- Demand high among undocumented Asian migrants who feel limited by options
On Monday, about 1,500 people were offered jabs at a pop-up vaccination centre at the China Exchange building in Gerrard Street.
It was the sixth vaccination event organised by the Chinese Information and Advice Centre (CIAC). The first one in May had to be halted after hundreds of people turned up for only 150 vaccines available. Police had to intervene and many who weren’t able to get a shot left disappointed.
“Thousands mob Chinatown after ‘vaccine bus’ advertised appointment-free Covid jabs with ‘undocumented migrants welcome’ and no NHS number or ID needed – forcing police to control crowds,” screamed The Daily Mail at the time.
Just over 70 per cent of UK adults have had the two vaccine doses needed for maximum protection, according to the Office for National Statistics, and 88 per cent have had one.
Demand for the limited number of jabs in Chinatown has highlighted some perceived gaps in the country’s rapid vaccine roll-out by the National Health Service.