GPs in North Wales have been warned of a delay in a batch of Covid vaccines affecting about 26,000 doses.

Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it was a national issue which was expected to be "resolved in the coming days".

The Welsh Government said one Oxford-AstraZeneca batch out of four had been delayed and had been due to be shared between Wales' seven health boards.

It said it had been assured it would get more Pfizer vaccines by February, despite shipments of it being temporarily slowed because of changes to the company's manufacturing processes.

Chris Stockport, executive director primary and community care at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, said: "We have been notified of a delay in releasing a batch of vaccines which would have disrupted supply nationally in the middle of this week.

"To help minimise disruption and anxiety, we informed GP practices of this supply issue at the earliest opportunity, and suggested they may wish to delay appointments early this week.

"We expect that this issue will be resolved in the coming days, and we expect a further allocation of vaccines will arrive over the coming week.

"We are now in the process of working with our partners in primary care to minimise any disruption and continue the rollout of vaccinations across North Wales."

To date, around four per cent of the Welsh population have received a coronavirus vaccine so far.