MATT Hancock has brushed aside concerns of a “significant reduction” in vaccine supply next month as he also hit back at a threat from the EU to stop the export of supplies to the UK.

At a Downing St press conference, the UK Government’s Health Secretary announced some “fantastic news,” that the rollout had seen almost 530,000 vaccinations carried out on Tuesday, which meant that 100 days since 91-year-old Margaret Keenan received the world’s first jag, 25 million people across the UK had been vaccinated; almost half of the country’s adult population.

However, it emerged that NHS providers had been informed by the Government’s vaccines task force that there would be a “significant reduction in weekly supply available from manufacturers beginning in the week commencing March 29, meaning volumes for first doses will be significantly constrained”. This, the letter said, would continue for a four-week period because of “reductions in national inbound vaccines supply”.

When challenged on this, Mr Hancock sought to brush aside concerns, saying: “Supply is always lumpy and we are on course to deliver the offer that everybody who is aged 50 and above will be able to get vaccinated by April 15. I recommit to that today.

“And, of course, these supply schedules have moved up and down throughout this whole rollout. It’s absolutely par for the course and that’s a normal operation letter,” he declared.

“We are committed to all adults being able to get the jab by the end of July and we are on track to deliver on that commitment,” insisted the Secretary of State.

But later, Jonathan Ashworth for Labour, said: “People across the country will be anxious and worried that the booking of new first dose vaccination appointments will be paused form the end of March.

“Matt Hancock needed to explain exactly what these supply issues are and what he is doing to resolve them. Trying to dismiss or downplay the legitimate concerns of anxious people waiting for a vaccine is simply not good enough.”

Meanwhile, the UK Government pushed back on a threat from the European Commission that, as EU Governments continue to struggle to increase their rollouts, threatened to halt the export of vaccines from the continent to countries which were doing better, such as the UK.

Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission President, made clear the EU would be willing to introduce emergency controls on vaccine production and distribution if it were needed to deal with the “crisis of the century”.

Noting how “all options” were being considered, she said: “We will reflect on whether exports to countries who have higher vaccination rates than us are still proportionate.”

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine doses for Europe, including the UK, are being produced in BioNTech’s German manufacturing sites, as well as in Pfizer’s manufacturing site in Belgium.

Dominic Raab said Ms von der Leyen’s remarks needed “some explaining” given everyone, including the EU, had been saying it would be wrong to curtail or interfere with lawfully-contracted supplies and he condemned Brussels “brinkmanship”.

At the No 10 press conference, Mr Hancock was equally dismissive, saying: “The supply of vaccines from EU production facilities to the UK is indeed fulfilling contractual responsibilities and we fully expect those contracts to be delivered on.”

Today, the EU vaccine regulator, the European Medicines Agency, is due to report on the continental concerns about the British AstraZeneca vaccine and concerns over a feared side effect of blood clots.

Boris Johnson made clear he would be receiving his jag shortly and made clear it would be the AZ one.

At the press conference, Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, sought to allay fears about the risk of blood clots, saying emphatically there was “no evidence of increased risk” but there was a lot of evidence that the AZ jag was saving lives.

The latest data showed that both vaccines used in the UK gave 60% protection from getting coronavirus, 80% protection from hospitalisation and 85% protection from death.

Dr Mary Ramsay from Public Health England also pointed out healthcare workers who had been vaccinated were 70% less likely to get infected after a single dose.

“The really exciting data that came from Scotland last week suggested that those vaccinated healthcare workers have a 30% lower chance of passing infection onto their household contacts.

“This is really the first evidence we have of a reduction in transmission from vaccinating. It means the more people we vaccinate, the more we are going to be able to reduce the spread of infection,” she added.

Mr Hancock insisted: “The vaccine is saving thousands of lives right now here in the UK and it can give us all hope,” adding: “When you get the call, get the jab.”