'Entirely wrong' to divert Sunderland's vaccine supply, says city leader

Concerns were raised last week that the rapid roll out of the jabs across Wearside and the rest of the region had seen supplies cut to allow other areas to catch up.

It has prompted Sunderland’s top boss to make a direct plea to Westminster to reverse the move.

“We just need more doses of the vaccine, Prime Minister,” said Graeme Miller, the leader of Sunderland City Council.

“So it comes as a huge disappointment the Government stands to half our supply of the vaccine to allow other areas to catch up.

“I think that is hugely wrong as a message about whether you value people in the North compared to the South.

“I wish the Government had not taken that stance, I think it is entirely wrong and I hope they get back to giving us as much vaccine as we can take.”

Cllr Miller was speaking at a meeting of the full city council, held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

While Ministers were in the leader’s sights, he had only praise for the efforts of health chiefs, who he insisted had done a ‘magnificent job’ getting jabs out.

According to Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), 87% of over 80s and 97% of care home residents have received their first vaccine dose.

Almost 2,000 housebound residents have also been visited for a jab through a door-to-door service.

It comes as the Sunderland Echo and its sister titles run the Shot in the Arm campaign, calling on the Government to enlist local pharmacies to help roll-out the vaccine.

Sunderland has been singled out for praise by Boris Johnson for the speed with which treatments have been doled out.

Despite accepting the challenges of navigating the pandemic however, Cllr Miller insisted trusting the speed of Wearside’s proven system offered the best hope of bouncing back from the virus.

He added: “We have proven we have the systems and capacity to protect some of the most vulnerable in the country and it is very frustrating and worrying to not have the vaccine supply to do it.

“Rest assured, I and my fellow leaders across the region continue to lobby the government to help us get as much vaccine into as many arms as possible.

“Surely this is the best way to suppress the virus and enable the vaccination programme to play its part to help the country get back to normal.”

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