Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 2 December 2020.
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.