from the end of this month there will be
a significant reduction
in the availability of coronavirus
vaccines
the shortage of supplies is expected to
last
during april and the nhs has written to
local health organizations
urging them not to take any new
appointments for vaccinations
from the 29th of march those who already
have bookings
are not expected to lose their slot the
bbc has been told that fewer batches of
astrazeneca vaccines are available than
expected
despite that ministers insist that the
vaccination targets they set
are still achievable and during the day
the department of health announced that
25 million people
have now had their first jab as our
political editor
laura koonsburg tells us every jab
another step towards the way out every
injection
part of what the government's seen as a
huge success not far off half the adult
population
with now some protection against covid
i've got some fantastic news to bring
you today
news the health secretary was happy to
share we have now vaccinated
over 25 million people the vaccine
is our way out we are on track so let's
stick with it follow the rules
and when you get the call get the jab
perhaps the journey is less smooth than
we might have assumed
a letter from the nhs to local trust
says volumes for first doses will be
significantly constrained
because there's a reduction in national
inbound vaccine supply
services should close unfilled bookings
for march the 29th
and not book any further appointments
for april you've just told everybody
that we are
on track with the vaccination but you
haven't mentioned this letter from the
nhs
which says that there is a significant
reduction in the available supply and
that vaccine centers should stop
taking appointments for the whole month
of april what is going on
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 i'm
told this is
not just a standard glitch sources
suggest
fewer astrazeneca vaccines are available
than the nhs expected
so is the opposition convinced by the
government's explanation
now now now he's putting a positive spin
on it there
that this is a month-long pause of
appointments this is a more significant
disruption
uh than we've had so far in the last
three months
and there may well be a entirely
reasonable explanation but we just need
those details tonight
and look who popped up with another
blast for the health department today
are you missing being part of government
mr cummings the prime minister's
very much former chief advisor dominic
cummings surfaced
giving evidence
we suggested the department of health
had stumbled badly at the start of the
pandemic
and hadn't been capable of running the
vaccine program itself
it's not coincidental that the vaccine
program worked the way that it did
um it's not coincidental that to do that
we had to take it out of
the department of health in spring 2020
you had a situation where
department of health was just a smoking
ruin
in terms of procurement and ppe
importantly no one with a vaccine booked
should miss their chance
no one waiting for their second jab
should lose out either
nine doses out of an eight dose
fire but so much of boris johnson and
the country's hopes are based on the
vaccine
any slowdown causes nerves laura
kutzberg bbc news westminster
with me in the studio our health editor
hugh pim what's going on with supplies
you
well hugh it appears to be an issue
surrounding astrazeneca's international
supply chain doses coming into the uk
it's a complicated business it can
involve independent suppliers
and contractors the company's made clear
tonight that its domestic supply
arrangements
are not affected but there is as we've
been hearing a significant reduction
from early april onwards health
officials are saying though that their
targets
that's getting the top nine priority
groups including those age 50 and over
and the clinically vulnerable all of the
first dose by the middle
of april that is on track we're told and
the overall target of all adults being
offered it by the end of july
but the big difference is gps and other
vaccination
clinics have been told don't send any
letters out to anyone aged
under 50 for the whole of april pause
that
so that side of things is going to be
delayed certainly by a few weeks
we've often discussed the questioning
around how
efficient the vaccines are how they
perform if you like
we've heard a little more about that
today yes officials at the downing
street briefing
were understandably saying this remains
a very very successful program more than
25
million people offered a first dose
we've had a first dose
so far it was said that the new research
shows that
it cuts transmission by 30 percent that
is from the vaccinated to those who
haven't had the vaccine 60 reduction was
quoted
in catching covey amongst the over 70s
and a bigger
reduction in in risk of actually
becoming seriously
ill so that's all very positive but i
think today's developments are a
reminder that making big predictions
about what might happen in the months
ahead is very very difficult because
supplies can never be predicted that
accurately huge many thanks again hugh
pim our health editor there
all of which brings us to the latest
official figures on the pandemic
5758 new cases recorded
in the latest 24-hour period that means
on average the number of new cases
reported per day in the last week is
5665.
the number of patients in hospital with
covet continues to fall it's now down to
7218. there were 141 deaths reported of
people who died within 28 days
of a positive covid19 test that means on
average 121 people died
every day in the past week from
coronavirus
are taking the total of death so far to
125
831. let's have a look at the latest
figures on vaccinations
433 320 people
had their first dose of a covey vaccine
in the latest
24-hour period that takes the total of
people
who've now had their first job past 25
million as i mentioned earlier
that means 48 percent of the uk adult
population
has now had its first vaccination more
than
1.7 million people have in fact had both
doses of the vaccine so those are the
latest official figures the european
union
has been dealing with its own vaccine
supply problems for some time
with some member states facing the very
real threat of a third wave of
infections
and tensions have been rising between
individual countries
and the european commission ursula von
de leyon who's president of the
commission
surprised many today by warning that
unless supplies improved
the eu might need to impose limits on
exports of vaccines
from european factories she said that
the eu was still waiting for exports
from
the uk and she said they wanted
reciprocal treatment
our brussels correspondent nick b has
more details
in prague in paris and once again
in bergamo in northern italy copied
patients
gasping for air the nightmare prospect
of a third wave in europe
is now real the continent is also facing
a vaccination crisis
it's not getting the doses it ordered
and today a warning the eu would do
everything needed to get its fair share
all options
are on the table we are in
the crisis of the century and
i'm not ruling out any anything for now
because we have to make sure that
europeans are vaccinated
as soon as possible
officials in brussels have faced heavy
criticism over their vaccine
program and have now come out fighting
the eu says it sent millions of doses to
the uk
in recent weeks but seen little in
return from astrazeneca
but remarkably seven million of the
company's jabs
are sitting in fridges and its use has
now been suspended
in most eu countries it's still
available here in belgium
but increasing numbers are saying they
don't want the astrazeneca shot
i'm not sure that it will be okay if
it's astra for
old people so then that's why now
i'm afraid everybody is afraid of this
vaccine
the eu's medicine regulator is assessing
the latest evidence from a very small
number of cases
of a possible link to blood clots but it
stresses the benefits
outweigh the risks a message amplified
in today's downing street press
conference
vaccines don't save lives if they're in
fridges they only save lives if they're
in arms
and that's a really important fact all
medicines
have side effects and all medicines
have benefits and that's the whole point
that absolute confidence in the
astrazeneca vaccine
is now very hard to find in many
european capital cities
but still the eu is adamant it should
get all of the british-made doses
it's ordered and has now raised the heat
in this latest
post-brexit row and this evening the
government condemned the eu's action
saying it was wrong to threaten even
tighter controls on vaccine exports
i'm surprised we're having this
conversation is normally what the
uk and the eu team up with to object
when other countries
with less democratic regimes than our
own engage in that kind of brinkmanship
it is a deepening rift and will do
nothing to ease europe's resurgent covid
crisis
and there is growing concern that the
rise in new cases
the shortage of vaccines and the
reluctance to take the ones that are
available could be a deadly combination
and that is why already
some countries have been tightening
their lockdown measures to try to fight
a third wave here in europe it all feels
pretty uncertain hugh
tomorrow all eyes will be on the eu's
medicines regulator
when it gives its latest assessment on
the safety of the astrazeneca vaccine
nick more from you tomorrow many thanks
nick beaker correspondent there in
brussels