THE success of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out in Cheshire is down to local leadership and not the government.

That's the view of Cheshire East Council leader Sam Corcoran, who contrasts the success of the vaccine roll-out led by NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group and local GPs to the failings of the government's test and trace system run by private industry.

Cllr Corcoran said: "The vaccination programme in Cheshire East is going remarkably well. I think that it is no coincidence that something run locally by our NHS has gone well, and the programmes run nationally by large private companies, have failed.

"You need only think of the PPE fiasco and the £20 billion Serco-led test-trace system."

Last week, NHS England data revealed that almost nine in 10 of Cheshire and Merseyside's over-75 population had received their first dose.

The data (up to January 31) shows that 89.1 per cent of those aged over-80 have had one dose, while jabs have reached 85.1 per cent of residents between 75 and 79.

Yesterday, the government announced that anyone over the age of 70 should contact the NHS if they have not yet had their first dose of a vaccine.

Residents can do so via an online booking system, or by calling 119 free of change between 7am and 11pm.

The Department for Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.