Hancock plays down NHS vaccine shortage warning

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has played down NHS warnings of a “major contraction” in vaccine supplies, telling a Downing Street press conference that vaccine supply is always “lumpy” and that the UK is on track to offer vaccines to everyone in priority groups one to nine by 15 April.

His statement followed the publication of a leaked letter from NHS England, which revealed that the UK is set to face a “significant reduction” in vaccine supplies – believed to be both Pfizer and AstraZeneca – from the week beginning 29 March, forcing NHS chiefs to halt the booking of new appointments next month.

The letter, now published on the NHS England website, warns that disruption could last for up to four weeks, with the number available for first doses “severely constrained”. It predicts that the dip in supplies will last for a four-week period and urges health workers not to invite patients outside the top nine priority cohorts unless in “exceptional circumstances”.

The letter is signed by Dr Emily Lawson, who is heading vaccine deployment at NHS England and NHS Improvement and Dr Nikita Kanani, medical director for primary care. According to a report by The Times, the dip is caused by manufacturing issues and is not linked to a row with the EU.

Asked by BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg to explain the shortage of supply, Hancock said: “Vaccine supply is always lumpy and we regularly send out technical letters to the NHS to explain the ups and downs of the supply over the future weeks and what you’re referring to is a standard one of those letters”.

Later in the press conference, the Daily Mail’s Jason Groves accused the Health Secretary of skating over the issue of falling supply “like some kind of technical issue” and asked him to clarify whether it would have any impact on the long-term timetable. Hancock insisted that the letter was “a par for the course” and said: “We have the NHS across the UK ready to be able to deliver on the offer of a vaccines to all over 50s by the 15th of April”.

Shadow Health Secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, has criticised Hancock for not being open about the impact of a reduction in vaccine supply, insisting that he “needed to explain exactly what these supply issues are and what he is doing to resolve them”. He said that trying to dismiss or downplay the legitimate concerns of people waiting for a vaccine is “simply not good enough”.