District told supplies of vaccine will vary ‘to ensure fair spread’
SUPPLIES OF the coronavirus vaccine to West Yorkshire in the coming weeks will vary because of the need “to ensure a fair and equitable spread across the country”, a senior health official in the county has revealed.
In a letter Dr Phil Wood told MPs and councillors that deliveries were “being targeted to areas where there are more people left to vaccinate in the priority cohorts”.
The senior responsible officer for the vaccine programme in West Yorkshire said the allocation to the county would be lower this week than last week but that every group of GP practices would get a delivery this week.
And Dr Wood, the chief medical officer for Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said officials still expected to get enough supplies to offer vaccinations to everyone in the top four priority groups by mid-February.
It comes amid conflicting reports about whether doses of the vaccine originally intended for Yorkshire, one of the fastest regions to roll out the programme, were to be redirected to other parts of the country.
It is understood that while West Yorkshire’s overall allocation of vaccine will remain unchanged in the longer term, it will get a smaller supply in the short term while other areas are allowed to catch up.
The most recent statistics show that the North East and Yorkshire have administered more jabs than any other region aside from the East Midlands, with the South West and London lagging behind.
In his letter, Dr Wood wrote: “You will also no doubt be aware of the extensive media coverage there has been about vaccine allocations to our region being reduced from next week, which has understandably caused considerable anxiety for both local people and staff.
“However, while our allocations for this week will be lower than last week, we are still expecting to receive enough supplies to offer vaccinations to all people in the first four priority cohorts by mid-February and all PCN centres [groups of GP practices] will be receiving a delivery this week.
“Our understanding is that our total allocation has not been changed but the amount of supplies we receive will vary over the next few weeks.
“This is due to the need to ensure a fair and equitable spread across the country and to make sure people in the groups at greatest risk are all offered a vaccination as quickly as possible.
“Deliveries are therefore being targeted to areas where there are more people left to vaccinate in the priority cohorts.
“In line with this approach, we are also looking at how we can make sure that people in the top two priority cohorts – care homes, frontline staff and people aged 80 and over –across all areas of West Yorkshire have been offered their first vaccinations, before continuing with other cohorts.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told the Commons last week that the North East and parts of Yorkshire had gone “really fast early on” but that “we have to make sure the vaccination programme is fair everywhere”.