THE doctor in charge of York’s national vaccination centre has reassured extremely clinically vulnerable residents that they will be called up to get their vaccines.

Professor Mike Holmes, who leads York’s largest Covid vaccination centre on the former Askham Bar Park & Ride site, said all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals - not including pregnant women and those under 16 years of age - are now being called up for jabs.

His comments came after one York family claim they were told by their doctor’s surgery that people aged 70 and over were being prioritised ahead of the clinically vulnerable in the city.

Chef Mike Cushing, 47, is undergoing treatment for stage 4 bowel cancer having been diagnosed in October 2019.

Mike, who worked as a chef at The Ivy in York before his diagnosis, is still having to go in to hospital in York and Scarborough for treatment as a day patient, and his wife, Jane, said they are worried about his increased risk of catching coronavirus.

She said they have been has been on tenterhooks waiting for Mike to be called up for his jab ever since the Government announced on January18 that the NHS was starting jabbing the next two priority groups - those aged 70 and over and clinically extremely vulnerable people.

Jane said: “There appears to be misinformation out there that needs to be put right so that people who are clinically vulnerable know they will get their jabs at the same time as those 70 and over in York.

“Clinically vulnerable people are more likely to be in and out of hospital than the average over 70 year old where they are being put in a high risk situation.”

Prof Holmes said: “We continue to work to the cohort guidance provided by the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation. At present we are working to offer a vaccination to everyone in the first four cohorts: residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults; all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers; all those 75 years of age and over and all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals (not including pregnant women and those under 16 years of age).

“We are all working as hard as we possibly can to get through those cohorts, but it will take some time.”

Prof Holmes has also called on people to be patient and not to contact their GP surgery asking when they will get their jab, but rather to wait until they are contacted by the NHS or their GP.

He said that no one will be excluded from the vaccination programme, but it will take months.