SOME of the patients waiting to receive a second dose Covid jab at York’s mass vaccination centre have had their appointments rescheduled at short notice because of national supply fluctuations.

Professor Mike Holmes, who leads the complex at Askham Bar, has revealed the impact of Pfizer vaccine supply issues at the weekend in his weekly column for The Press.

He said that because there wasn’t enough Pfizer vaccine, a small number of people coming for their jab had had their appointments rescheduled to Monday or later in the week at short notice, with some patients receiving a text asking them to reschedule.

“This is unfortunate, but we are trying to make sure everyone gets their second vaccination within the 12-week period,” he said.

A woman contacted The Press yesterday to say her husband had received a text postponing his second vaccination from today to Thursday because there was insufficient Pfizer vaccine in stock. She said this took the gap between his first and second jab beyond the intended 12 weeks, adding: “We are extremely disappointed.”

Prof Holmes reassured people they would get their vaccine by the 12th week. He said national fluctuations in supply were expected to continue into May and, regionally, supplies were managed to ensure they were delivered to sites which needed it most, and this meant some people would also experience frustration trying to book their first appointment.

He said the York centre’s challenge was how to continue to deliver vaccinations to the next cohort, and some appointments might need to be rescheduled to ensure it made the most appropriate use of supplies and delivered second doses.

A spokeswoman said it now had plenty of vaccines available for this week and was planning to do about 2,000 more first dose vaccinations, as well as all the second dose vaccinations required. She said the centre had already vaccinated 5,800 people in cohort 10 - people aged 45-50 - and was now opening up appointments for people aged 44.

“The people who have been rescheduled will all have their vaccinations by the 12th week, which isn’t a problem in terms of protection,” she added.

l The column is on page 16.