Covid: Suffolk's 'worst in England' vaccine figures was based on wrong data

Suffolk was bottom of the table nationally for vaccinating the over-80s

A county which was ranked worst in England for its vaccine rollout has seen its figures almost double after a recalculation by NHS England.

The vaccination rate for over-80s in Suffolk, along with north-east Essex, had been incorrectly published as 36%, compared to 70% elsewhere.

NHS England said the figures had been "rectified" and the new rate of 71% on 24 January was accurate.

It did not comment on whether a data glitch was the cause.

The BBC understands that figures from some GP surgeries had not been captured by the national IT system.

More vaccination centres

Lisa Nobes, chief nurse for Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System (ICS), said: "We are just really glad that it has been sorted out.

"We know what our local data is saying, and we know we are doing well and we have seen significant improvement in the last few days."

Ed Garratt, who leads the ICS, attributed the sharp rise week-on-week to the "momentum" in the vaccine rollout.

"These figures show a big acceleration in people most at-risk getting their vaccination, and reflect the increase in the number of sites we now have up and running across Suffolk and north east Essex," he said.

The area now has 30 vaccination centres, including a nationally-run mass vaccination centre which opened on Tuesday in Ipswich. More are expected to be announced soon.

'Accelerate and catch up'

Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the MP for West Suffolk, was questioned earlier this month about the rollout in Suffolk.

"The numbers [of vaccinations] are a bit lower in the East and the reason for that is the speed at which the different vaccination sites were set up in different parts of the country, and that is now being sorted," he said.

"Areas like the East of England as a whole that are behind the national average - we'll accelerate them and catch up."