Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board will rapidly “accelerate” its rollout of vaccinations across North Wales after initial “supply chain” problems.

The board will use up to 19 mass vaccination centres, doctor’s surgeries, mobile immunisation teams and the military to increase rollout of both Pfizer/BioNtech and newly approved Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccines.

Care home residents, older in-patients and those over 80 will be the first to receive the vaccine.

This week the board is receiving 5,000 doses of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca inoculation and more than 8,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.

Supply chain issues stopped as many care home residents and over 80-year-olds getting vaccinated as hoped.

A spokesman for Betsi Cadwaladr UHB said: “We want to reassure people across North Wales that we have a robust and well-considered plan to administer the vaccine to all of our priority groups as quickly and as safely as possible.

“Over the course of our Covid-19 vaccination programme, we will receive an allocation in proportion to the size of our priority population.

“We have commissioned significantly more mass vaccination centre and hospital vaccination centre sites than any other health board and have well developed plans in place to introduce local vaccination centres and mobile vaccination teams.”

There had been complaints that North Wales had not been getting as many vaccinations per capita as other areas of Wales but the spokesman said this would resolve itself, promising a “significant increase” in activity this week.

“We are very well placed to accelerate our roll-out of the vaccine, taking advantage of the greater volumes we expect to receive in the coming weeks.

“We now have both the increased availability of vaccines as well as more staff and vaccination sites to help us reach more people, more quickly.”

The board has reiterated its call for people to be patient while they contact those due for vaccination.

The Oxford/Astra Zeneca jab will be targeted at those aged over 80 who are inpatients across acute and community sites and care home residents.

The board will vaccinate around 650 in-patients this week, said the spokesman.

Over the first two weeks in January, the health board’s priority groups for vaccination include:

- Care home residents and staff

- People aged over 80, including hospital inpatients

- High risk frontline healthcare staff

- Primary care staff

- Welsh Ambulance Service staff

Initially only 11.5 per cent of jabs were administered in North Wales but that has risen to 13.5 per cent.

The health board has requested (and is receiving) extra vaccines to catch up with the rest of Wales.