(BBC) – An expected reduction in the UK’s Covid vaccine supply in April is partly due to a delay in a delivery from India of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses.
The shipment, produced by the Serum Institute of India, has been held up by four weeks, the BBC has been told.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said neither a single factory nor a country was responsible for supply issues.
The Department of Health insists it is still on track to offer a first dose to all adults by the end of July.
NHS England warned of a reduction in supply in April in a letter to local health organisations on Wednesday.
The Scottish government said it was “seeking clarity” from the UK Vaccine Taskforce on future supplies, while the governments in Wales and Northern Ireland said they were examining how their own vaccine programmes could be affected.
A spokesperson for the Serum Institute said: “Five million doses had been delivered a few weeks ago to the UK and we will try to supply more later, based on the current situation and the requirement for the government immunisation programme in India.”
A source told the BBC that although the original aim had been to deliver the next five million in March, there was not a stipulated time for the delivery of the doses.
