Rutland Healthcare has warned of 'erratic' vaccine deliveries as it restarts its vaccination programme this week.

The body issued an update on its website yesterday, outling its programme as best as it could.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Programme started in Rutland just before Christmas on Monday December 21.

The organisation said: "This did not include everyone over 80 because we did not have enough vaccine in our first delivery. Vaccine delivery remains erratic and unpredictable and we have an extremely short time frame to book appointments.

"Most of the people who have been vaccinated were over 85 and their partners. We also vaccinated some care home staff and frontline health workers."

Rutland Healthcare continued: "Our next vaccine deliveries will be in January. We will be telephoning patients over 80 from January 4th onwards to book these appointments once we know when to expect the vaccine.

"We will be calling again those patients who missed our calls when we were booking the first group. We are expecting to have offered the vaccine to everyone over 80 who can come to the vaccination centre by the end of January 2021."

Patients will be given the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.

The vaccination centre will be at the Rutland Council Offices at Catmose House Catmose Road, Oakham.

But a home vaccination programme was due to start yesterday (Thursday).

Unfortunately, Rutland Healthcare says it has had to cancel the second vaccination appointments that were due to start in the week starting Monday January 11 for those who has already received their first vaccine.

It said: "Although there have been inaccurate suggestions in national media that GPs have discretion to make this decision, our delivery of vaccine has been cancelled and we have no choice in this.

"The decision has been made by NHS England so that more people can be protected by receiving their first dose. Second doses will now be rescheduled for 12 weeks after the first."

Affected patients will receive a letter about this and will be contacted when the seciond vaccine can be given.

The post on the Rutland Healthcare continued: "At the moment we are not able to vaccinate people who cannot travel to the single site because we are not allowed to move the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine.

"We have just received national instructions on how we are to obtain and use the Astra Zeneca/Oxford vaccine which has just been approved, and we are planning how we can safely vaccinate housebound patients.

"There are over 2500 people over 80 in Rutland, and the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine is delivered in batches of 975, so don't worry if you have not been contacted straight away. We are contacting people in age order."

The national priority list which has to be followed is:

1-residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

2- all those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers

3- all those 75 years of age and over

4- all those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

5- all those 65 years of age and over

6- all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality. Cohort 6 also includes unpaid carers.

7- all those 60 years of age and over

8- all those 55 years of age and over

9- all those 50 years of age and over

Further details on the Rutland Healthcare vaccination programme can be found here.