Grab a jab by Sunday as new pop-up Covid vaccination site opens at Leighton Buzzard Library

An extra pop-up walk-in Covid vaccination centre has been opened at Leighton Buzzard Library this week as case numbers fall in Central Bedfordshire overall.

The site will be open every day to Sunday, January 23 and anyone over 12 can drop in and get receive a jab between 10.30am and 5pm.

Central Beds Council's latest weekly report (published this afternoon) includes data up to January 16 and shows that while new cases are down they are still above pre-Omicron levels.

The figures have gone down by 1,371 to 2,781 new weekly cases, a rate of 945.6 cases per 100,000 population. Infections are now highest among 5-10-year-olds but remain high across all age groups. The number of people in hospital locally has once again increased and there were five deaths in the last reporting week.

Leighton Buzzard South had 170 new weekly infections (previous week 246), Leighton Buzzard North 124 (previously 190) and Linslade had 171 (previously 156).

The most affected wards were: Cranfield and Marston Moretaine 183, Linslade 171, Leighton Buzzard South 170, Houghton Hall 147, Dunstable Northfields 140, Arlesey 135, Sandy 131, Leighton Buzzard North 124, Flitwick 123, Ampthill 118, Shefford 115, Biggleswade North 113, Stotfold and Langford 112, Biggleswade South 100, Dunstable Icknield 93, Dunstable Watling 80, Caddington 76, Potton 73, Dunstable Manshead 72, Toddington 75, Parkside 56, Tithe Farm 51, Dunstable Central 45, Houghton Conquest and Haynes 42, Westoning, Flitton and Greenfield 41, Northill 37, Barton-le-Clay 37, Aspley and Woburn 25, Heath and Reach 31, Silsoe and Shillington 31, Eaton Bray 26.

Case numbers among neighbouring areas are also down but remain high:

Bedford – 2,178 new cases, down 641 (1,246.8 per 100,000) with 2 deaths reported

Luton – 2,615 new cases, down 913 (1,224.7 per 100,000) with 5 deaths reported

Milton Keynes – 3,262 new cases, down 1,388 (1,207.2 per 100,000) and 3 deaths reported

A Central Beds Council spokesman said: "The government has announced that the measures put in place under plan B in England will be lifted and they will return to Plan A. However, the pandemic is not over and we will need to remain cautious to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.

"Everyone should get all the doses of the vaccine as soon as they can and continue testing regularly with rapid tests (LFTs) - particularly before periods of high risk and before seeing anyone who is vulnerable - and to take a PCR test if they have symptoms. Testing and vaccinations are our best weapons against the virus – keep testing and get your vaccination as soon as possible."

You can still get vaccinated by booking an appointment through the National Booking System and calling 119. Details of all local vaccination sites can be found here.