6. Will the Minister make a statement on the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across Wales? OQ55958

7. Will the Minister outline how Welsh health boards are preparing for the roll-out of the first wave of COVID-19 vaccines? OQ55972

Presiding Officer, I understand you've given your permission for questions 6 and 7 to be grouped. 

Health and social care sectors in Wales, with key stakeholders, have worked with the Welsh Government to plan the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccines since May. Priority groups identified by the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation will receive the vaccine now, but approval has been received from the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. 

Thank you, Minister, for that answer. In your statement his morning, obviously you highlighted what will be critical to delivery of the vaccine programme, whichever vaccine it's going to be—which will be the staff and the individuals charged with undertaking the work on the ground. You said training exercises have been undertaken with various staff across Wales. Can you assure us that those exercises have taken account of the various differences between the vaccines? What is the initial feedback over the total workforce that might be required to do a national vaccination programme in the coming weeks and months ahead?

Well, I can't give you a figure, because that would mean plucking a figure out of the air for the total workforce, but what we do recognise is that we think that we'll be able to move to a position where we can actually train people who aren't healthcare staff to be able to deliver some of the vaccines, and yes, the training does take account of the characteristics of each vaccine, because as I've said, the vaccine characteristics are different, and the training will be both about the transfer and the storage as well as the delivery. So, I think you can take assurance from the level of detail that's in the statement that points out the work that's already been done by professionals across the sector, and that this is going to be a significant priority.

You'd expect that similar statements could going be made by the other Governments in the UK, because actually, there's been lots of sharing of information between all four NHSs, all four Governments, on what we're trying to achieve. So, I'm not just hopeful, but positive, I think, with good reason, about our ability to deliver a vaccine programme and to start within a matter of days in time with the rest of the UK, and to be able to deliver that successfully across the population. Our challenge will then be how we manage to get the vaccine into the country and then how quickly we can keep up with the pace of demand, because I think most people will be very keen to receive protection from the vaccine.

Minister, first of all, thank you very much indeed for your statement this morning. It was really informative, one of the best statements, to be honest, that I've seen for a long time from the Government, and it's answered a huge number of the questions that I had. But I do have a couple of little points I just wanted to raise with you. The first was that, in your statement, you say that the time between the vaccines needs to be four weeks. On Friday, I was with a group of others who were assured that, actually, it was a three-week interval. So, can you just clarify that, please?

Could you also please just give us a little bit more detail about how Welsh Government will manage the recall system for the second dose? Because although I understand the Welsh immunisation service is progressing well, it is still, according to information I've been given, in bits; it's still not quite all there together. We then have to recruit an awful lot of staff and make sure that that information works really well and that we can persuade people to come back for that second vaccine.

And really finally, I understand that recent tests of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine have found that having a half dose followed by a full dose is actually far more efficient than having two full doses. This, of course, will increase the amount of vaccine available to Wales and to the UK, and I wondered if you had any update or had any thoughts you could add to that. Thank you very much.

I think there were three questions within that, the first about the time between doses. The advice I've had is four weeks. We'll continue to examine whether it can be shortened to enable us to have more rapid delivery of both the doses of the current Pfizer vaccine that has been given approval for supply.

On the Welsh immunisation service, as I said in the statement, that can automatically schedule second doses and send out appointment letters, and so we will be able to send people that reminder. And of course, they'll also, as was discussed with your colleague, have a physical reminder, with an appointment card as well. So, there will be opportunities to remind people. And again, because this is going to be such a significant exercise, I think it will be very difficult to avoid the wider public communication about the reality of the vaccine delivery, and I'm confident that, not just in the first few people who are having the vaccine, but then the first few people who are then coming back for their second dose, they'll be interested in those, and then, in the week following, when they should then have the fullest coverage and protection, to understand what that has meant for the services that they either work in, or how they're able to live their lives. 

I'm sorry, I appear to have forgotten your third question, because you asked three in a row.

The Oxford vaccine and it being a one and a half dose. 

The Oxford vaccine, yes. The Oxford vaccine—well, again, you've seen the public news about this. It was delivered by accident. In one stage of the trial, they delivered a half shot by accident, but they found that that appears to have given a greater effectiveness level, a greater level of immunity, which is good news, and there are times where things happen that are fortunate as opposed to planned, and this would appear to be one of those. So, that's part of the safety data the MHRA will look at. And there will be a different challenge, though, because whilst the amount of supply means they should be able to create more vaccine, it may just change the nature in which they have to package and deliver things. But these are practical challenges that I'm sure we'll be able to get through with manufacturers across the UK as well. And again, that vaccine, if it is at the higher level of its potential in terms of its effectiveness, then it can be delivered in a way that makes it not just cheaper but much easier to deliver around the country. That is something that would really help in population coverage, but I'm very grateful for the fact that we have today's welcome news and, again, ask people to stick with the difficulties that we're all living through for a few more months, and then we can enjoy a much greater degree of normality in the future.