Over 86,000 receive covid vaccine in Wales as plans to ramp up the vaccination process are unveiled

Over 86,000 across Wales have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

The figures were released this this afternoon by Public Health Wales, which from today, will be publishing a daily on the number of vaccinations being carried out at health boards across Wales.

It comes as the Welsh Government unveils its Vaccination Plan, setting out a series of milestones for when people will be offered a vaccine.

The three milestones set out in the plan are:

• By mid-February – all care home residents and staff; frontline health and social care staff; everyone over 70 and everyone who is clinically extremely vulnerable will have been offered vaccination.
• By the Spring – vaccination will have been offered to all the other phase one priority groups. This is everyone over 50 and everyone who is at-risk because they have an underlying health condition.
• By the autumn – vaccination will have been offered to all other eligible adults in Wales, in line with any guidance issued by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

In total, around 2.5m people throughout Wales could be offered Covid vaccines by September, depending on further advice from the JCVI.

The strategy depends on sufficient and regular supplies of the vaccines being delivered. It will be kept under review in line with supply of the vaccine and any further advice from the JCVI.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething said: “The Covid vaccines offer our best hope of a return to the normality we are looking forward to after such a difficult year, which has turned all our lives upside down.

“Delivering this vaccination programme to the people in Wales is a huge task but an enormous amount of work is going on to make it a success.

“We are making good progress with thousands more people being vaccinated every day.

“Over the coming week we will see the programme pick up further speed with more clinics opening and the first vaccines to be given by pharmacists.”

100 GP surgeries across Wales will also be administering the vaccine by Friday, which will increase to 250 by the end of January, the first minister announced last week.

The number of mass vaccination centres will increase to 35 over the coming weeks, with at least one in each county. We started with seven, five weeks ago.

Also included in the plan is military support in the mass vaccination centres – there are 14 immunisers and 70 other personnel providing support.

The first pharmacies to provide the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine will start vaccinating in North Wales in the next week.

14 mobile units, run by community nurses, will be taking the vaccine to care homes and text message appointment reminders will be introduced.

Dr Gillian Richardson, who leads the Covid vaccination programme in Wales, said: “This is the biggest vaccination programme Wales has ever seen and the NHS is working incredibly hard to get the vaccine to as many people as possible, safely and as quickly as we can.

“People will be invited to come and have a vaccination at a clinic close to their home or at one of the mass vaccination centres. I know everyone is really keen to get their jab but please wait until you are contacted for your turn.

“Vaccination will give us a path out of this pandemic but it will take us a little while to protect all the people in Wales who need it – this is why it’s so important everyone continues to take steps to protect themselves and their families from coronavirus.”