First doses at a mass vaccination centre in Ramsgate will be temporarily suspended due to a national reduction in jab supplies.

The former Saga call centre in Haine Road has been used as one of five Kent hubs to innoculate patients booking in from across the county.

But from April 1 no appointments will be made for up to three weeks for those yet to receive their first injection.

Those already booked in for a second dose will still receive them.

GP-led services operating separately at the centre will also continue, with patients invited in for their jabs, rather than making an appointment online.

These separate services are being run by two of Thanet’s Primary Care Networks - Margate and Mocketts Wood, and Coastal and Rural East Kent.

The PCNs moved their vaccination roll-out to the Saga site on March 15 due to better parking facilities and access.

The district’s third PCN, Ramsgate, continues to offer its jabs at the Montefiore Medical Centre, so its patients will not be affected either.

The mass vaccine service is being run by the Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust.

In a letter to staff at the centre, it said: “Due to a national reduction in vaccine supply we will need to close all of our large vaccination centres from Thursday, April 1, for a period of around two to three weeks.

“At the moment this affects rosters until April 11, but could continue beyond this date.

“During this time we will focus on our roving model which will provide clinics for people who are hard to reach; including the homeless and others who have trouble reaching our centres.

“We will also be providing some staff clinics for second doses.”

The trust added that “well over” 150,000 jabs have been delivered across the five Kent hubs.

A spokesman said: “In line with available supply, our vaccination centres will continue to offer appointments for second doses and GPs will continue to contact eligible patients for vaccinations throughout April.”

In Thanet, 68,192 people received their first dose by March 21 - 60.9% of the district’s adult population.

Only in Dover, at 61%, have a higher percentage of people in Kent been vaccinated.

'We're well ahead of the game here in Thanet' - Jenny Bostock

The Thanet total includes 14,152 people under the age of 50, many of them NHS workers and those in frontline roles.

Jenny Bostock, nurse practitioner and clinical director of the Ramsgate PCN, which is responsible for inoculating patients from five surgeries in the town, says the vaccination roll-out has been progressing extremely well.

She said 14,000 patients under the Ramsgate PCN have been vaccinated, and that 90% of priority groups one to four have had their jabs, with second doses now being administered to care home residents and housebound patients.

"This closure of the mass vaccination service doesn't affect us and our clinics will go on, although there may be a dip as we deal with the delay in the vaccine," she said.

"We're well ahead of the game here though in Thanet and we've got a good system in place.

"The three PCNs have been working together, which is a real boost."

Mrs Bostock says while the aim is giving patients choice, increased speculation over possible vaccine passports to go to the pub and to travel could mean that those reluctant to get the jab may change their minds.

"We want to stop Covid spreading as much as we can so that we can all go back to living our lives normally," she added.

"People get their flu vaccination and of course some people can develop complications with flu, but it's something we live with."

Mrs Bostock says the pause in NHS-led operations at Saga is "not ideal" but that she is keeping her fingers crossed that the issue with supplies will be resolved quickly.

"Hopefully it won't be for long and it will start up again," she said.

"At the moment we're running four clinics (at Montefiore) and we're doing Saturdays as well for people who are working during the week.

"It's a very positive clinic; people are grateful for the vaccine.

"The building is very central, it's on a bus route and we've got an upstairs and downstairs, so we decided to stay here rather than go to Saga, but we continue to support the mass vaccination centre.

"We have a great team here and it works well with colleagues from the other surgeries.

"When you think about it this is all on top of the usual work of the GP practice."

Mrs Bostock says while telephone consultations have led to a more efficient service - allowing them to deal with twice as many patients - some, including children, people with mental health concerns or those who wish to discus an issue in person, can still come in.

Read more: All the latest news from Thanet