More than half of all adults in Wales have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has announced.
Speaking at the Welsh Government’s coronavirus press briefing on Monday (March 22), Mr Gething described the vaccination figures as “remarkable”.
As of Sunday (March 21), 1,273,186 people in Wales had received their first vaccine dose, while a further 346,058 people had received both doses, according to figures published by Public Health Wales.
Who has been vaccinated so far?
The percentage of people in Wales who have received their first and second vaccine is broken down below:
Care home residents: 96% first dose; 54.9% second dose
Care home workers: 86.8% first dose; 66.3% second dose
Healthcare workers: 90.3% first dose; 76.1% second dose
Social care workers: 42,329 first dose; 33,331 second dose
Aged 80 and above: 94.7% first dose; 15.9% second dose
Aged 75-79: 95.3% first dose; 34.8% second dose
Aged 70-74: 94.7% first dose; 33.8% second dose
Clinically extremely vulnerable people aged 16-69 : 90.6% first dose; 15.8% second dose
Aged 65-69: 92.2% first dose; 12.3% second dose
Clinical risk groups aged 16 to 64: 69.2% first dose; 2.6% second dose
Aged 60-64: 80.4% first dose; 10.2% second dose
Aged 55-59: 50.3% first dose; 11.8% second dose
Aged 50-54: 38.7% first dose; 11.7% second dose
Welsh Government has said everyone in the first nine priority groups will have been offered a coronavirus vaccine by the middle of April. Everyone else who is eligible for a vaccine will have been offered one by July 31.
Meanwhile, Mr Gething also announced a £100m ‘recovery plan’ to help health and social care services in Wales recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “As we emerge from the most serious stage of the pandemic, we are now in a position to set out how we can start to recover.
“This plan sets out the broad principles of recovery and more detailed actions will follow. I am making available an initial £100m now to support the first steps, but it is clear more resources will be needed to make a full recovery.
“It will be a long journey, but it is also an opportunity to transform how we deliver health and care services in the future, and to tackle the health inequalities in our society that the pandemic has made even more evident.”
He added: “That is why, alongside our recovery plan, I am also pleased to announce our National Clinical Framework, which sets out how we see NHS clinical services developing over the next decade.”
Darren Hughes, director of the Welsh NHS Confederation, welcomed the recovery plan and said: “It’s vital that we build on the collaborative, cross-sector working we’ve seen throughout the pandemic, and look at the lessons learnt to capitalise on the opportunity to transform services in a sustainable way, through innovation and new technology.”
What is the Welsh NHS Confederation?
The Welsh NHS Confederation is a body made up of the seven health boards and three NHS trusts in Wales, as well as Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW).
According to its website, the Welsh NHS Confederation “support[s] our members to improve health and wellbeing by working with them to deliver high standards of care for patients and best value for taxpayers’ money.
“We act as a driving force for positive change through strong representation and our policy, influencing and engagement work.”
He added: “However, it’s important that we all recognise the complexity of the challenge that lies ahead, ensuring we are realistic in our expectations. System recovery won’t happen overnight, and we must learn to live and work alongside Covid-19 for a while longer, acknowledging constraints and opportunities.
“A realistic and steady approach is needed to tackle the NHS treatment backlog if health and care staff are to be protected from burning out, prioritising patients based on clinical need and risk. We thank the Welsh public for the support they have given to the NHS throughout this extremely difficult time.”
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