AMBITIOUS plans proposed by Bradford health bosses to vaccinate the whole of the district’s population could be limited by the “changing nature” of the national programme.

The plan, set out in a report dated January 12 and due to be discussed by councillors next week, said the aim was to vaccinate all over-50s registered with a GP in the Bradford and Craven district by March and over-18s by July, with a deadline of June 30 to give all cohorts their second jabs. A total of 25,530 vaccines would be needed per week to hit the target.

The report even indicated that Rimmington’s Pharmacy in Bradford city centre, which has been designated as a Community Pharmacy Vaccination Centre by NHS England, could begin vaccinating the 18-49 cohort as early as Monday, January 25.

Nationally, the Government’s target is to offer the first jab to the top priority groups by February 15, the remaining priority groups from the end of February to April and to all adults by autumn.

The roll-out to over-70s only began this week and there has been national concern over vaccine supplies.

The NHS in Bradford said “some of the trajectories included are now out of date” but did not specify if the July target was still the aim.

The report, by Nancy O’Neill, deputy chief officer of the Bradford District and Craven Clinical Commissioning Group and Karen Dawber, Chief Nurse at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We believe we have the infrastructure in place to deliver a mass vaccination programme within Bradford District and Craven.

“This is based on modelling of cohorts and prioritisation as per the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) document.

“This programme is not without its risks and there remain a number of unknowns and tight schedules to meet to deliver by the end of June 2021.

“However, we have a small but proven track record of delivering at pace within PCN’s (Primary Care Networks) and within hospital centres. We believe the lessons learnt from the initial three weeks and the roll out of the more stable AZ (AstraZeneca) vaccine will enable continued success.”

According to the report, even with the three Hospital Vaccination Centres and 10 Primary Care Network Vaccination Centres working at full capacity “it is not likely that all individuals in each cohort would be able to receive two vaccinations by September 2021”.

This is why the Jacob’s Well site in Bradford city centre was commissioned as a Community Vaccination Centre and is expected to open the week beginning February 1.

“We are in the process of negotiating for a second site but this is not yet confirmed and we are waiting for the building owner to send a lease agreement for approval,” said the report.

Three further pharmacy sites could open, in addition to Rimmington’s, but a timescale has not been set.

The NHS organisations in Bradford said the paper, written “well in advance” of the meeting demonstrated the potential capability based on guidance at the time.

They added: “Due to the understandably changing nature of the national vaccination programme, some of the trajectories included are now out of date and working with partners across West Yorkshire, we continually update our modelling to reflect changes in national policy and deliver vaccines in line with the latest guidance.”