Coronavirus vaccine supplies in the North West of England will be cut by a third next month, the NHS has confirmed.
The weekly sum will be reduced to 200,000 by the second week of February for regions including Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cheshire, Merseyside, and South Cumbria, the BBC reports.
The Health Service Journal explained the decision was due to national shortages, and would allow other regions in the country to catch up in prioritising the most at-risk groups.
However the Department of Health said the vaccine programme was "on track" to offer first doses of the jab to those in the top four priority groups by mid-February.
NHS England's North West directorate said in a statement that the region was being "fully supplied with all the vaccinations needed to offer vaccination to everyone across the region aged 70 and above, as well as clinically extremely vulnerable patients, and health and social care staff".
It comes as Boris Johnson has said he has “total confidence” in the UK’s supply of vaccines after the European Union threatened to block exports of jabs.
The Prime Minister told a Downing Street press briefing that the delivery of vaccines was a “multinational effort” and the UK would continue to work with European partners.
