Health bosses admit some Covid-19 vaccines on the Isle of Wight have been wasted, but say numbers are 'very low'.

Islanders are being urged to attend coronavirus jab appointments to ensure the vaccine is rolled out quickly and efficiently.

We are also told to let the NHS know if we cannot make an appointment - to ensure every dose is used - though on the Island, people have been 'generally brilliant.'

The Daily Mail is reporting today (Saturday) that in parts of the country, GPs have been forced to dispose of unused doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.

What about the Isle of Wight?

On the Island, the NHS Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group is leading the roll-out of the Oxford Astrazeneca vaccine.

The Isle of Wight County Press asked if all doses delivered to the Island had been put into arms and if any had gone to waste, due to people not turning up for appointments. We also asked how the figures compared to any possible flu vaccine wastage.

Alison Smith, managing director of NHS Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Overall we are managing to use our stocks of vaccine very efficiently and wastage remains very low.

"These vaccines are precious and valuable, and we treat them as such and do our best to ensure our clinics are booked up.

“We would ask everyone to help us to use our stocks as well as we possibly can.

"If you are invited, please attend at the appropriate time.

"If you can’t, get in touch to let us know and then we can make sure it goes to someone else who needs it.

“Generally people have been brilliant in terms of keeping their appointments, and we hope this continues as the programme expands.”

The CCG did not comment on what 'low wastage' meant, and did not confirm whether doeses had been thrown away because they could not be used.

Earlier this week, the County Press reported on fears that Covid-19 appointment letters were being held up in the post, affecting the Shanklin and Niton area.

Royal Mail said some areas had been faced with a lack of staff to deliver letters, due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine are stored at the St Mary’s Hospital Covid-19 vaccination hub, in appropriate refrigeration equipment, and are being administered by the Isle of Wight NHS Trust.

Thawed Pfizer/BioNTech has a maximum shelf life of up to 5 days (120 hours) at 2 °C to 8 °C, hospital bosses, said.

A spokesperson told the County Press: "The vaccines are being delivered in multiple batches, therefore, we are not storing the vaccines for our full vaccination programme and it will be delivered to our hub to complement our usage, which is being managed through a booking system."