Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:52 pm on 2 December 2020.
Thank you for that assurance. It is important in order to ensure that Wales gets its share of every batch, not just the whole order, and that the various countries and the nations of the UK can start the process simultaneously.
We are awaiting approval of at least two further vaccines in the short term, hopefully. The Minister will be aware that the question of the reliability of the Oxford vaccine—AstraZeneca—has been the cause of some debate recently. We very much hope that it will be sufficiently effective for approval, but it may not be as effective as the other vaccinations. But—and this crucial—it may be cheaper. Can we have an assurance that decisions on which vaccines are to be used where, in terms of various geographical areas or various contexts, won't be made on the basis of cost?