Nine out of 10 Covid patients in a Norfolk hospital's intensive care unit (ICU) have not been vaccinated against the virus.

It is understood that 90pc of people with Covid in the James Paget University Hospital's (JPUH) ICU over the last few months have not had their jabs.

At the moment there are 18 people with Covid being treated at the hospital, which covers the Great Yarmouth and Waveney areas, including those not on the ICU.

It comes as reports nationally suggest significant numbers of Covid patients requiring treatment in hospital are unvaccinated. At Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge, its chief operating officer said about 80pc of patients seen on general wards and in critical care were not vaccinated.

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On Sunday health secretary Sajid Javid pointed to national figures showing that of Covid patients who required extra corporeal membrane oxygenation - for those with severe respiratory failure - from July to November, nine out of 10 were not vaccinated.

And professor Rupert Pearse, who works at the Royal London Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital in London, said unvaccinated people made up to 90pc of Covid hospital admissions.

It comes amid a plea for people to have their booster jabs, after prime minister Boris Johnson promised every adult would be offered one by December 31.

Figures showing the rate of unvaccinated coronavirus patients at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn were not available.

But a spokesperson for the Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System said: “The best way to protect yourself and your family from serious illness this winter is to have the Covid booster vaccination. You can choose a vaccination centre near you and walk-in appointments are available across Norfolk and Waveney.

“With more cases of the Omicron variant in the community, a booster jab can restore protection from Covid infections to around 75pc, so the NHS is turbo-charging the booster programme to offer a top up to all eligible adults by the end of the year.”

It was echoed by Dr Louise Smith, Norfolk’s director of public health, who said - along with practicing good hygiene and wearing a face mask in public - being vaccinated was the most important way to protect people.

She said those who catch Covid and who aren’t unvaccinated are “far more likely to develop severe symptoms and end up in hospital”.