This rate excludes staff who have had Covid-19 in the last 28 days, making them ineligible for a first dose, meaning the share of total staff without a jab is even lower, at 73 per cent.
London has the lowest take-up of any English region, with only 62.4 per cent of staff in the capital with a first dose and no single borough meeting the 80 per cent benchmark.
Aside from Lambeth, boroughs such as Wandsworth and Southwark have seen only 55 per cent and 57 per cent of eligible staff vaccinated up to March 14.
Yet low up-take is not limited to the capital, with local authorities across the country failing to reach Sage’s safe benchmark.
That is despite residential care workers being the first priority group of the UK’s vaccination rollout, which began at the end of last year.
Care homes in Luton and Reading on the outskirts of London have seen only 57 per cent and 61 per cent of staff vaccinated respectively, while those in Peterborough in the East of England have only 64 per cent of staff with a jab.
Manchester has the lowest uptake in the North West, at only 61 per cent of staff with a first dose, followed by Knowsley, in the Liverpool City Region, at 67 per cent.
Birmingham and Nottingham also feature in the worst ranked local authorities, both with 67 per cent of eligible staff vaccinated as of March 14.
In contrast, 39 local authority areas have seen more than 80 per cent of eligible staff vaccinated. Blackpool, Barnsley and Darlington have the best take-up rates in England, with 87 per cent, 87 per cent and 85 per cent of eligible staff with a first dose respectively.
Fuelling ministers’ concerns is the vulnerability of the UK’s residents of care homes, which have been badly hit during the coronavirus pandemic.
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