More than 300,000 people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine so far in Greater Manchester, according to the latest figures.

As of Tuesday (January 26), 309,469 first doses of the vaccine had been administered and 96pc of care homes have now been offered the vaccine.

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has praised the progress of the rollout, saying the region is in a good position to reach the mid-February deadline.

There are around 560,000 people in the four highest priority groups which includes care home residents, health and social care staff and all over-70s.

It comes after reports in the last 24 hours that the supply of vaccine into the North West could be reduced by a third in the early weeks of February.

The mayor said he was concerned when he first saw the reports in the Health Service Journal, but has since been reassured by NHS England that Greater Manchester will receive enough vaccine to hit the mid-February target.

Speaking at his weekly press conference on Wednesday (January 27), Mr Burnham said that Greater Manchester is carrying out around 100,000 vaccinations a week and, at that rate, should be able to reach the deadline.

He said: “What we have been told is that we will receive enough vaccine to hit the mid-February target.

“If that is the case, then, of course, we are reassured by that, recognising that other areas where the progress isn’t as great do need to obviously catch up.”

But Mr Burnham said he is still a ‘little concerned’ about the reduction, saying there is no week-to-week schedule of supplies, making planning ‘quite hard’.

He also criticised a lack of flexibility within the system which means vaccines cannot be moved around to meet demand from the supplies already available.

The metro mayor highlighted the higher risk the poorest parts of the country face from Covid and said that this should considered when allocating supplies.

But he said that this stage of the vaccination programme needs to be ‘as free from politics as we can make it’.

When asked, Mr Burnham said he agreed with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer who called for a plan to vaccinate teachers and support staff to be developed.

However, he said police and supermarket staff should be considered as well.

He said: “Supermarket staff have really been exposed during this pandemic.

“We all rely on those people to stay in work and it feels to me that it is only right that there is a quid pro quo that they are prioritised for protection when it comes to the vaccine.”