Over 125,000 covid vaccine doses given across York and North Yorkshire as NHS plays down concerns on region's supply chain

And almost every care home resident and staff member in the region has now been offered a vaccine apart from in care homes where significant covid outbreaks meant it was unsafe for vaccination teams to enter.

Care home residents who are currently positive for the virus, or have tested positive in the past four weeks, will be part of a catch-up programme over the coming weeks to ensure they receive their vaccine, an NHS leader said.

Over a million injections have now been given across the whole of the North East and Yorkshire. 126,163 of those doses were administered in York and North Yorkshire, the vast majority being the first dose of either the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine or the Pfizer dose. A "small number of people" have now had both doses of the vaccine, according to the NHS.

Two more vaccination centres are due to open in the coming days in North Yorkshire at Ripon racecourse and Scarborough Rugby Club.

Amanda Bloor, accountable officer for the NHS in North Yorkshire, said: "This is a testament to the vaccination teams that have responded to services so quickly and have stood up to the challenge.

"We continue to push to get as many vaccinated as possible across North Yorkshire and York."

It was confirmed today that there are no plans for mobile vaccination units to be rolled out across North Yorkshire, and that residents who are worried about accessing their nearest vaccine centre will be offered transport run by the council and volunteers.

Asked if there were concerns about the vaccine supply going forward and whether any halt to supply would affect people receiving their second dose, Amanda Bloor said: "It's understandable that questions are being asked about the confidence in the supply.

"The government has assured us that there is supply in place, and the supply chain is controlled nationally so we are subject to that.

"It is fair to say that the amount of vaccine we get on a week to week basis does vary, it's varied since the first week of this programme.

"This is not just a North Yorkshire vaccination campaign, it's a national one to target the people who are most vulnerable.

"It's absolutely right that we comply with that campaign and target those most vulnerable to get the vaccine first.

"We're working with the vaccine doses we're given as quickly as we can."