Covid vaccines: Minister denies plan to remove jabs from Yorkshire

Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said Yorkshire would get its "fair share"

The vaccines minister has denied claims that Covid-19 jabs are being moved from Yorkshire to other parts of England.

The Health Service Journal (HSJ) reported that the number of doses sent to GPs in Yorkshire and the North East could be halved next week.

When asked about the story by the BBC, Nadhim Zahawi said: "No vaccine is being taken away from Yorkshire and moved to other regions of the country."

"Yorkshire will get its fair share of vaccine," he added.

The HSJ said primary care providers in the regions could receive 100,000 doses next week, compared with the previous supply of 200,000.

It was suggested that the move was because Yorkshire and the North East - which is classed as one region - had vaccinated more over-80s compared with other parts of the UK.

According to the latest NHS figures, Yorkshire and the North East lead the UK with 64% of over-80s having receiving their first vaccine dose, compared with 48% in London and 13.1% in Scotland.

Mr Zahawi said: "So this week it will get 13%, next week it will get 13% of the supply for England to Yorkshire. That's the fair share," he said

"What you're seeing is the vaccine overall supply tightening."

"Both Pfizer having to reconfigure its manufacturing and also AstraZeneca/Oxford where we were supposed to get two million doses by the end of January it's now going to be mid-February.

"So vaccine supply is the limiting factor.

"But I can assure you that Yorkshire will get enough vaccine to be able to offer a vaccine to those top four most vulnerable cohorts by mid-February."