Public Health Wales set to publish more detailed data on vaccination roll out from this week

More “granular surveillance data” on the number of people being vaccinated across Wales will start being published from this week.

The move to release more information was confirmed by Health Minister Vaughan Gething in a written statement.

It comes after growing concern over the speed of the rollout and confusion over comments made by First Minister Mark Drakeford earlier this week suggested that doses of the Pfizer BioNtech vaccine were being held back and that using them all in the first week would “have all our vaccinators standing around with nothing to do for another month”.

Mr Drakeford, along with education minister Kirsty Williams and health minister Vaughan Gething, have since moved to clarify the comments.

In a written statement published yesterday Mr Gething said that “good progress” is being made in reaching the first milestone – offering the vaccine to the first four priority categories as decided by the UK’s independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) – by the middle of next month.

This includes over 80s, care home residents and staff, health care workers, the over 70s and clinically, extremely vulnerable individuals.

In North Wales this over 184,000 members of the public, which Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board believe is achievable, subject to vaccine supplies.

Across Wales all frontline Welsh Ambulance Service Trust staff have been offered their first dose and around 1,000 care home residents are being vaccinated everyday, according to the health minister.

So far over 161,000 people have been vaccinated across Wales, however a breakdown on the numbers of people with the priority categories has yet to be provided.

On Thursday Public Health Wales will start “the process of publishing more granular surveillance data” on the numbers vaccinated.

Mr Gething said that this will begin with a breakdown of those over the age of 80 and care home residents. However further information on other categories will be provided in the coming weeks

The health minister added: “In addition to this, Welsh Government statisticians will begin a regular publication of some of the more operational statistics attached to the programme.

“The first of these publications will be on Tuesday 26 January and weekly thereafter. Data around vaccine supply and wastage will be included as part of this publication. Again, further data will be added as the programme progresses.

“From next Tuesday, we will also begin publishing a weekly update on progress against our National Strategy. This will reflect on progress and look ahead to the upcoming milestones.

“I want Members, and the public, to have access to the latest information on the vaccine programme and I hope these arrangements go some way to achieving that.”

There has been criticism about the lack of data provided over the numbers of over 80s, healthcare workers and care home residents vaccinated.

This is along with concern about people eligible for the vaccine not being contacted for appointment.

Yesterday Betsi Cadwaladr University Health confirmed that as of Friday 15 January, 27,762 people in north Wales had received the COVID-19 Vaccination. Of those 28% of priority groups 1 and 2 had received their first dose.

The health board says that it is aiming for all people aged over 80 to have had their first dose of the vaccine by the end of next week.