The leader of Birmingham City Council, Ian Ward, said he had learned that the city “has not yet been supplied with any AstraZeneca stock, while current Pfizer stocks are scheduled to run out on Friday.”
In an open letter to the Health Secretary, Mr Ward said: “We write on behalf of all Birmingham’s Members of Parliament and the leadership of the city council seeking urgent clarity and reassurance regarding the vaccination rollout across our city over the coming weeks and months.
“With the new national lockdown now in force and Covid rates continuing to climb, vaccination offers our only realistic hope of a return to normal life.
“It is therefore not surprising that many of those we represent are contacting us directly for updates and answers on the progress being made with vaccine penetration.
“It is clear that we are expected and will be expected to know the answer to a rolling series of questions, and we are clear that this is information that we should have, and which must be collected.”
The Birmingham local leaders’ letter, tweeted by Birmingham Hodge Hill MP Liam Byrne and also signed by Sutton Coldfield’s Tory MP Andrew Mitchell, called for figures to be provided to the council showing the number of citizens vaccinated so far in each parliamentary constituency.
It also called for data on take-up and refusals, to highlight any areas where resistance to vaccination needs to be addressed, as well as a list of all organisations delivering vaccines in Birmingham.
The letter also demanded “a realistic forecast” of how many vaccinations were expected to be administered in the following week, and assurances that supplies of vaccines will keep pace with demand.
The letter stated: “We acknowledge that the vaccination roll-out is in its early days, but we have also learned today that Birmingham has not yet been supplied with any AstraZeneca stock, while current Pfizer stocks are scheduled to run-out on Friday this week with currently no clarity on when further supplies will arrive.
“It remains unclear who is responsible for overseeing the vaccination programme in Birmingham and whom we should hold to account for progress and delivery.
“I am sure you would agree that such a lack of transparency is unhelpful and frustrating.
“As Members of Parliament throughout Britain’s second city we are absolutely clear that we need the following information on a constituency-by-constituency basis and hope that we may look to you as Secretary of State to make sure that we receive it.
“We are also clear that throughout the United Kingdom other Members of Parliament and other local authority leaders will require this information preferably on a daily basis over the coming weeks and months.”
