Welsh Government to reveal vaccination plan later today

Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething will today publish the Welsh Government’s Covid Vaccination Plan – which should set out how and when people are offered the vaccine.

The Welsh Govenerment will also publish daily vaccination figures from today. So far, more than 70,000 people had received their first dose of the Covid vaccine by the end of last week.

Over the weekend Plaid Cymru called for transparency from the Welsh Government over when people are likely to get the vaccine.

The party’s Shadow Minister for Health, Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, said: “There are real concerns about the vaccine deployment programme, not least regarding the pace, transparency and communications during these initial stages. People simply want to know when they might expect the vaccine.

“Setting out targets in Welsh Government’s vaccination plan, and including a dashboard of information which answers questions around how the numbers of doses by health board and priority group, will go far in helping to build public trust, as they will be able to track progress for themselves.

“We have a short period of weeks before the damage of strict conditions, in particular school closures, become even more significant. We also currently have a virus infecting more people every week than are receiving the vaccine. Expanding the pace and scale of vaccination is thus essential, as is restoring public confidence that governments have a plan for winning this battle against the virus.”

The Welsh Conservatives meanwhile called for a speeding up of the vaccine’s rollout. It has been reported that Wales has received 275,000 doses – with 70,000 delivered to people.

Andrew RT Davies, the party’s Shadow Health Minister, said:

“The Welsh Government has the vaccine doses and they have the power to get it out to the people that need it the most. They’ve been caught off guard and yet still don’t seem to be in any rush.

“We need a Government Minister to have the single job of delivering their vaccine with the full resources of the Welsh Government alongside NHS Wales, GPs, Pharmacists and anyone else that can help.

“We need a vaccine army, backed up by our Armed Forces, to get the job done. We cannot afford any more delay.”