North West set to have vaccine supply cut by a third due to national shortages
Video report by Hannah Miller.
The North West is set to be hit by coronavirus vaccine cuts next month.
In February, vaccine supplies are due to be cut by around a third to allow other regions to catch up as the vaccine programme continues being rolled out.
The Health Service Journal said the move comes due to national shortages and the need for other regions to catch up with vaccinating their priority groups.
New figures from NHS England show around 310,000 jabs were administered in the North West in the week to 24 January.
The HSJ says that the number of available doses this week is broadly similar, but is due to reduce in the first week of February, and fall further to around 200,000 in the second week. The numbers for the following weeks are unclear. The region covers Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Merseyside, and Lancashire and South Cumbria.
In Lancashire, the Council said they 'can and must' be allowed to move on to vaccinating the next set of priority groups.
NHS England says the North West is being 'fully supplied' with all the vaccinations needed for the top four priority groups.
Clare Reeves is a GP in Trafford. They're aiming to do 1,000 jabs per week. Clare has been told that this week, she'll be getting none.
The Department for Health and Social Care said: “We are in constant contact with the vaccine manufacturers and remain confident that the supply of vaccine to the UK will not be disrupted. We are on track to meet our target of offering a first vaccine dose to every person in the top four priority groups by mid-February.
"We have secured access to 367 million vaccine doses and the deals we have in place with seven vaccine developers will ensure that our supply continues to grow so we can rapidly expand the rollout in the weeks ahead."