THE Covid vaccine supply to Yorkshire and the North-East is set to be slashed from next week as NHS bosses admit other parts of the UK need to catch up.

GPs surgeries across the region are set to receive just half the expected supply of doses as some practices have already started cancelling vaccine clinics.

It is understood that as a result primary care settings will be given just 100,000 doses of the vaccine, down from 200,000 across the entire region.

Earlier this week, the Director for Primary Care at NHS England responded to concerns raised by a North-East GP who said vaccine clinics could no longer run run as a result.

Northumberland GP Ben Burville said that the clinics would not be cancelled in the week beginning January 25 as it was told "no vaccines" would be supplied.

In response to Mr Burville, Dr Nikita Kanani confirmed the reduction and said the NHS was "making sure" the progress the region has made was being "afforded" to the rest of the country at similar rates.

'Victim of their own success'

But this afternoon, Labour MP for Durham City Mary Foy hit back at "disappointing" news for the region as she said the NHS here had been a "victim of their own success."

She said: "It appears that NHS services in the North-East and Yorkshire have been a victim of their own success, and the amazing work that health professionals have done in getting the vaccine out to patients as quickly as possible means that the expected future supply has been restricted."

Ms Foy, who previously said she hoped to see the region "lead the way" in the vaccination programme, said: "Much of this seems to be down to ensuring equality of supply across the UK, and making sure that the priority age groups in every region are getting vaccinated as quickly as possible, but we know that there are huge health inequalities across the country.

"While it would make sense to allow a steady supply of the vaccine across the country if these didn’t exist, the North-East has a lower life expectancy, and higher deprivation than other areas of the country."

'How can we tell constituents that supply has been limited as our NHS has done too well'

Ms Foy asked why the Government is not doing "all it can" to ensure other regions had been brought up to the standard offered in the region.

She said: "Why is Government is not doing all it can to ensure other regions are able to deliver the high standards that we have seen here, and how are North East MPs meant to tell our constituents that the supply of vaccine has been limited as our NHS has done too well.

"Again, I would like to thank the Vaccine Task Force and all NHS staff who have done such an amazing job rolling out the vaccine across the region, and I will be doing what I can to support them in their ongoing work."

'We remain on target'

But Conservative MP Simon Clarke said it is vital that the most vulnerable are protected 'first.'

He said: "The drive to vaccinate the most vulnerable is a national effort and needs to be understood as such. It is vital that the most vulnerable people in our society are protected against this virus first.

"The fact that the rollout in the North-East has been hugely effective in protecting that most vulnerable cohort is something we should all be thankful for.

"We remain on target to have every individual in the top four categories of vulnerability receive vaccinations by mid February, with over 2m people vaccinated this week.

“I am in constant dialogue with both the local NHS and ministers to understand and relay the key priorities for our part of England.”

Matt Hancock responds to earlier concerns

It came as the Health Secretary Matt Hancock today responded to concerns over supply in our region from next week as he said the programme needed to be "fair everywhere."

He said: "We have to ensure that the vaccination programme is fair right across the UK.

"Some parts of the country, including parts of the North-East and Yorkshire, have gone really fast early on, which is terrific.

"But we have to make sure that the vaccination programme is fair everywhere, so that everyone in the top four groups can receive that offer of a vaccine by 15 February. We will deliver on that."

As vaccination data for each region was released for the first time last week, the North-East and Yorkshire saw highest number of first doses issued to those over 80, than anywhere else.

The data, which was from December 8 and January 7, also showed that there had been 270,885 first doses and 39,225 second doses - the country's highest for first doses per 100,000 people.

An NHS England spokesman said: “All available vaccine doses are being delivered to vaccination sites and every GP-led vaccination site is receiving a delivery this week.

"To ensure all of those people in the top priority groups can get vaccinated quickly, targeted deliveries are being made to areas where there are more people left to vaccinate in the priority cohorts.”