Sadiq Khan tells Londoners concerned about Covid vaccine: 'It's safe, it's a lifesaver'

4 February 2021, 16:35 | Updated: 4 February 2021, 19:38

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has urged Londoners who are "concerned" about the Covid vaccine that it "is safe" and a "lifesaver".

The mayor also urged Londoners worried about getting the vaccine "to ignore the anti-vaxxers and the Covid deniers and the conspiracy theorists".

Earlier today, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi told LBC he believes the UK will hit 15 million first doses in its coronavirus jab rollout by February 15.

Speaking of the vaccine rollout in London so far, Mr Khan said: "The good news is that we know more than 1.1 million Londoners so far already have received the vaccine.

"The bad news is we're seeing amongst some minority communities more hesitancy.

"So in proportionate terms, we think half of black Londoners are willing to take the vaccine versus white Londoners and about three quarters amongst Asian Londoners."

The Mayor of London encouraged Londoners that the vaccine is "safe", is "a lifesaver" and represents "the light at the end of the tunnel".

On Thursday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that one in five adults in the UK have so far received a Covid vaccine.

"We are on track to deliver the commitment we have made of offering the jab to all of the top four priority groups by 15 February," Mr Hancock told reporters while visiting the Royal Marsden Hospital.

"I'm just so proud of the team who are delivering this, it's going really, really well.

"You saw yesterday 10 million jabs done. Today we passed the threshold of one in five of the population who have been jabbed already."

The latest government data, up to 3 February, shows nearly 11 million jabs have been administered so far.

Of those, almost 10.5 million have been first doses - an increase of around 470,000 on the previous day's figures.

A total of 501,957 were second shots, an increase of 2,995 on figures released the previous day.

The UK's seven-day rolling average for first doses is now 430,532.

Based on the latest figures, an average of nearly 410,000 first doses would need to be given each day for the government to meet its target of 15 million by 15 February.

Listen & subscribe: Global Player | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify