Teenagers in Wokingham are taking up the Covid-19 vaccine at a higher rate than anywhere else in England.

More than 36 per cent of children aged 12 to 15 have had their first jab, while in some areas of the country uptake is as low as five per cent.

Wokingham is only one of 15 local authorities to vaccinate a quarter or more of the age group in England, but in Scotland vaccine uptake is already at more than 50 per cent in half its local authority areas.

The disparity has led headteachers’ unions to call for children to be allowed to use walk-in vaccination centres.

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Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “This would seem a very sensible way of quickly boosting the number of students who have been vaccinated.”

He said: “We are hearing reports from around the country of very varied delivery of the Covid-19 vaccine to 12 to 15-year-olds in schools and significant delays to the vaccination programme, which the Government had originally hoped to complete by half-term.

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“Schools have reported logistical problems such as the vaccination teams having insufficient staff to deal with the number of students needing jabs, running out of vaccines or even not turning up when they have arranged to.”

Behind Wokingham, the areas with the most vaccinated teenagers aged 12 to 15 were Derbyshire, Hertfordshire and Warrington, all reporting all 29.1 per cent.