8. Will the First Minister provide an update on the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney? OQ56023

I thank Dawn Bowden for that. Plans are in place for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board to deploy the vaccine immediately, in line with the vaccine delivery schedule and the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations.

Thank you for that answer, First Minister. Before I move on to the vaccine, can I once again thank those who were involved with the huge logistical challenge of the mass testing pilot in Merthyr Tydfil? The tests so far have identified some 22,000 or more asymptomatic people through the testing programme, with around 280 positive cases identified—people who will now not be in the community spreading the virus. So, we believe that that's around 50 per cent of the eligible population, and in my view, that shows the great success that this pilot has been.

But as we move on to the vaccine roll-out, I wanted to stress the importance of past learning in healthcare and that in the roll-out of the vaccine we need to avoid what we often refer to as 'the inverse care law'. Now, whilst it is right that we prioritise front-line health and care staff and vulnerable citizens across the country in the first waves of the vaccinations, we'll then move on to the general population. I hope there is a recognition that those areas, like my constituency, that have been hardest hit by COVID, both in terms of the number of cases, but also the economic impact, will require special attention in the vaccine programme. So, can you confirm that this has been considered by Welsh Government plans for the vaccine roll-out and that you will ensure that the programme will not fall foul of the inverse care law?

Llywydd, I thank Dawn Bowden for that. Can I, as well, thank all those who've been involved in that fantastic effort in Merthyr on the mass testing front, but also this afternoon, Llywydd, particularly, to thank all those people in our health service who have been part of the vaccination programme? The huge work that has gone on very rapidly over recent weeks to provide the logistical support, the transport, the storage, the onward provision of the vaccine, and today we see the fruits of that and I'm sure everybody in the Chamber and remotely today would want to thank those who've made that possible.

I thank Dawn Bowden for raising that important point about the inverse care law. She will know that vaccination is one of the relatively rare parts of the health world that has the opposite characteristics to the inverse care law. I remember when I was the health Minister, and the Member represented workers in the health service, we introduced the HPV vaccine for young women aged 14 and above. The highest take-up in the whole of Wales was in Merthyr Tydfil and the lowest take-up of all was in Monmouthshire. And, strangely, those figures persist to today. Monmouthshire has a take-up of HPV of 77 per cent and Cwm Taf Morgannwg has a 91 per cent take-up. So, vaccination is one of those relatively rare things where the inverse care law doesn't seem to apply. It's really important it doesn't apply in relation to this vaccine. The fact that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation schedule for the roll-out of the vaccine focuses on age and clinical vulnerability means, I think, that its impact will most be felt most quickly in those parts of Wales where we have higher concentrations of older, poorer and sicker populations. And that means, I hope, that we will see greater numbers of those populations, including in the constituency represented by Dawn Bowden—that they will see the benefit of this vaccine first. And, given the characteristics, and given the advice of the JCVI, so they should. 

Thank you, First Minister.