Soldiers continue going door to door to halt rising rates in Bolton

Group of soldiers in fatigues
Soliders in Bolton at briefing before delivering leaflets and Covid testing kits Credit: Bolton Council

More residents are coming forward to receive vaccinations in Bolton but there is still a "long way to go", the doctor leading its rollout said as the town battles to halt the spread of the Indian variant of Covid-19.

Dr Helen Wall who's in charge of Bolton's vaccine programme

Dr Helen Wall insisted officials had had a "great week" in driving increased take up of vaccines but said further effort needed to be made to get into the heart of the town's diverse communities.

A hundred military personnel drafted in to Bolton Credit: Bolton Council

A hundred military personnel are in the town and are going door to door delivering leaflets and testing kits, in areas where there are high infection rates.

Dr Helen Wall says 'there's still a long way to go' to halt the spread of the Indian Variant in Bolton Credit: ITV Granada

She said that walk-in vaccination services in the heart of communities have proved useful, with almost 12,000 vaccines done at one site.

Almost 2,000 vaccinations have been carried out at a newly-opened site in Runworth since Tuesday, which Dr Wall described as "a slower rate but it is starting to pick up there".

Credit: PA

Dr Wall described the region as having diverse communities and that the areas which have been really hit by the virus in the past weeks are those which have populations in their 30s and 40s.