Dashboard and words by Thomas Siddall.
Live Metro Dynamics’ Live Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker explores vaccination rates across places and demographics for a granular level analysis of protection levels across the country and reveals some interesting findings.
Here are our big three analytical takeaways so far and a guide on how to use the vaccine tracker.
1. A national vaccine ceiling has now been reached
78.8% of adults in England have now received one dose of the vaccine and 71.1% have received both doses. Vaccination rates for first doses peaked on 21 March 2021 and for second doses on 26 May 2021. The total number of vaccinations administered was also highest in May 2021 with vaccination rates rapidly declining month on month from June to August. [TS1]
These overall high take-up rates are positive news given that vaccines remain crucial to achieving population-wide protection.
2. But as always with the pandemic, the story and risk varies across places and demographics.
In a previous Metro Dynamics blog, we outlined the risk that tight age prioritisation for jabs had left younger places [TS2] with sharp disparities in coverage. It is clear that this challenge has shifted – with every adult having now been offered the jab – but demographic structure still plays a major role, for different reasons. In particular, lower vaccination rates amongst younger age cohorts means that areas with higher concentrations of young people remain relatively under-protected and thus more exposed to infection increases.
3. And urban areas once again show greater vulnerability
Page 4 of the Vaccine Tracker compares vaccination rates for both first and second doses across regions and local authority areas. Those areas with the lowest take up rates are overwhelming urban areas, especially in London and other Core Cities.
With our previous research with the Key and Core Cities showing a clear link between urban deprivation and high Covid-19 case rates, lower protection for such areas is particularly concerning.
Explore these trends and more using our Vaccine Tracker below and the accompanying user guide.
Live Vaccine Tracker User Guide
Using our dashboard, you are able to track vaccination rates across regions, local authorities and neighbourhoods (MSOAs), and within different age groups.
Interactive mapping of the rollout at the MSOA level allows you to see how national cohort differences translate into spatial disparities.
Data will be updated daily, with a slight lag from the staggered release of government statistics.
Page 1 – Introduction to the Live Vaccine Tracker
Page 2 – Vaccine uptake at national and local levels – explore the total vaccine distribution, across the timeline of the vaccine rollout. You can take either a national overview of the vaccine rollout, or use the dropdown menu at the top of the page to focus on individual regions or local authorities.
Page 3 – Vaccine uptake by age – explore vaccine coverage by age group at national and local level, using the dropdown menu at the top of the page to select regions and local authority areas. Use the age category buttons on the right to select a specific age cohort.
Page 4 and 5 – Vaccine uptake by place – these pages explore the spatial distribution of vaccines at regional, local authority and neighbourhood levels. The chart on the left compares first and second doses take up rates across places with an option to highlight places with higher proportions of younger people. There’s also an option to pick out Core Cities (which can be explored further in the final page of the dashboard). The interactive map on the right, meanwhile, lets you view vaccine uptake at the neighbourhood level (MSOA) across the country. Select a point on the chart to explore the uptake within a district’s neighbourhoods.
If you have any questions or are interested in finding out more about our Live Vaccine Tracker or any of our other work, please get in touch at admin@metrodynamics.co.uk.
*Please note that the data reported here reflects the total number of doses administered per day.
[TS1]Growing, but at a slower rate in June and August compared with May.
[TS2]Places with younger populations