ST HELENS has the highest COVID-19 vaccination rate in the city region, figures reveal.

More than half the population in the region has now been vaccinated against coronavirus as shops and pub gardens reopened on Monday.

The latest figures from the NHS show more than 774,000 people in the city region have had at least one dose of the vaccine out of a population of 1.5m.

This includes 96 per cent of all pensioners in the region and 92 per cent of everyone aged between 50 and 64.

These figures should provide reassurance for public health bosses in the region that non-essential shops can safely reopen as almost all of the most vulnerable have now been vaccinated.

However, local authorities have urged the public to continue to be vigilant and follow social distancing rules even if they have been vaccinated in order to prevent another surge in infections.

St Helens has vaccinated the highest proportion of its population in the region while Liverpool continues to lag behind, possibly due to higher levels of vaccine hesitancy among its ethnic minority populations.

The number of people vaccinated in each borough and the proportion of the population that represents is given below.

St Helens – 99,295 (55.0%)

Halton – 63,935 (49.4%)

Knowsley – 75,487 (50.0%)

Liverpool – 213,961 (43.0%)

Sefton – 150,385 (54.4%)

Wirral – 171,249 (52.9%)

However, some neighbourhoods have seen considerably fewer people taking up the vaccine.

Neighbouring borough Knowsley has identified Page Moss, Stockbridge Village and Northwood as areas of low vaccine take-up. 

Stockbridge Village has a vaccination rate of 45.9 per cent, while Page Moss’ is 46.1 per cent and Northwood’s is 46.4 per cent – all higher than Liverpool’s average but below Knowsley’s vaccination rate.

None of these three areas has a large ethnic minority population, suggesting other factors such as deprivation could be contributing to lower rates of vaccination in some areas.