Residents on low incomes in Wirral can now get to their local COVID-19 vaccination centre more easily after a bus voucher was made available to help with travel costs.

Wirral Council and NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group have teamed up with Liverpool City Region Combined Authority to offer free bus vouchers to encourage vaccine uptake.

From today, 1000 vouchers will be available for use on buses across Wirral so that residents who still haven't had their first vaccine or can't get back to a vaccination clinic for their second dose can travel for free to the vaccination site on the day of their jab.

To request a voucher, call the Coronavirus Helpline on 0151 666 5050 (Mon to Fri 9-5pm). Each voucher will be issued on a first come, first served basis. The helpline staff will take the caller's details and a voucher will be hand delivered.

How to use the voucher

- Vouchers can be exchanged on board for a return bus ticket.

- Vouchers can be used on all local buses

- Vouchers will be time limited with an end date of 31 August

- If your child or children need to accompany you to the vaccine centre, please request a voucher for them when you call. Each person using the bus must have their own voucher.

Dr Paula Cowan, local GP and Chair of NHS Wirral CCG added: "Vaccine uptake has been good in Wirral with 83% of adults now having had their first dose, but this is not balanced across the whole of the borough; in some areas 30% of all adults do not yet have the protection of even one jab.

"We hope that by working with local partners we can remove as many barriers as possible which may have so far prevented people from getting the protection they so desperately need."

A number of walk-in and pop-up vaccination clinics are running at locations across Wirral including the regular walk-in clinic at Birkenhead Medical Building, 31 Laird St, Birkenhead, CH41 8DB; Monday to Saturday 9am-4pm and staying open late till 6.30pm on a Tuesday and Thursday.

Other clinic locations include Clatterbridge; Moreton Cross Group Practice; The Oval and Woodchurch leisure centres.

For dates and times when you can Grab a Jab click or tap here.

To assess the impact of this scheme, your personal details may be shared with NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group in order to obtain information regarding your vaccination status. This will help the project understand how many people supported subsequently received a COVID-19 vaccination.