COUNCILLORS have been told that there has so far been "no evidence" of vaccine supplies to Bradford being halved so they could be re-distributed to other areas of the country.

Concerns were raised last week that the high take up of Covid 19 vaccines in Yorkshire might lead to the supply to the region being halved starting this week - with vaccines sent to areas where take up has been lower.

It led to the leaders of West Yorkshire Councils issuing a joint statement about the issue.

But at a meeting of Bradford Council's Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee this week, the team behind the vaccine roll out in the District said that this drastic cut in vaccines had not materialised.

During the same meeting members discussed how the main issue the vaccine roll out faced in Bradford was conspiracy theories and "fake news" about the vaccine.

The committee was given an update on the vaccine rollout by Karen Dawber, chief nurse of Bradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, and Nancy O'Neill, Deputy Chief Officer of the Bradford Clinical Commissioning Group.

Bradford's Rimmington's Pharmacy joins Covid-19 vaccine roll-out

They said they were on track to vaccinate all vulnerable groups so far eligible for the vaccine by mid February.

Members heard that while this would not necessarily halt transmission of the virus, it would help prevent deaths of the most vulnerable people.

Over three quarters of Bradford's over 80s population had been vaccinated as of Tuesday, members were told, and many of the District's elderly care home residents and staff had also been given their first jab. There were just three care homes where the vaccine had not yet been offered, and this was due to recent outbreaks that had delayed staff visiting to provide the jabs.

As well as carrying out vaccinations in hospitals and local doctors surgeries, a public mass vaccination centre is due to open at the Jacob's Well site in the city centre as early as next week.

Bradford College has offered its facilities for free to allow a second mass vaccination centre to be set up if needed.

And Rimmingtons Pharmacy in the city centre also started vaccinations on Saturday, with over 400 people vaccinated there.

Referring to the roll out, Mrs Dawber said: "It is a ray of hope isn't it? It will help us all get back to some sort of normality.

"The biggest mountain we'll have to climb as a city is reaching out to all members of the community to make sure nobody is missed. We are focused on making sure everyone has the opportunity to have the vaccine if they want to."

Councillor Owen Goodall (Cons, Craven) referred to reports that emerged last week that said the vaccine supply to West Yorkshire was to be halved this week. It was claimed that the doses would be re-distributed to areas where vaccine take up was much lower.

Last Friday the leaders of all West Yorkshire Councils released a joint statement regarding the concerns. it said: "If some parts of the country are progressing at a slower rate, the answer should be to support those areas, not to penalise those that are delivering faster. We strongly urge the Government to reverse this decision and to focus on working with the vaccine manufacturers to address the supply issue that is at the core of this problem.”

Cllr Goodall asked if it was the case that the area's vaccine supply would be halved, and how it would impact the vaccine roll out in Bradford.

Mrs Dauber replied: "We've seen no evidence of the vaccine supply being halved."

Councillor Alun Griffiths (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley) is a former doctor who has been involved in delivering vaccines in Bradford. He said: "I think the way the vaccine has been rolled out Nationally and locally is nothing short of astonishing.

"If you told someone last June that by mid January we would have vaccine and had vaccinated 75 per cent of the over 80s in the District they wouldn't have believed you."