2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:36 pm on 8 December 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Rebecca Evans Rebecca Evans Labour 2:36, 8 December 2020

I thank Leanne Wood for raising all of those important issues this afternoon. On the last issue, which relates to the prioritisation of various groups for vaccination, she'll be aware that the Welsh Government takes its advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, as do all four Government of the UK. And that's really important, because the prioritisation that it advises for vaccination is done on the basis of its understanding of the needs and the risks that people face. I completely understand the various groups who passionately campaign that they should be at the front for those vaccinations, and they make excellent cases, but I don't think that this should be a political decision; it should be a decision based on the best advice that we get from the JCVI. I know that they take into consideration all of the representations that Governments across the four nations are receiving in this regard. On the issue of payments for self-isolation, I will ask Leanne Wood to write to the Minister, Julie James, with regard to the specific cases that she has described—the staff working in schools—so we can better understand the challenges there. And again, I will raise that important issue of what more we can do to ensure that clinically vulnerable staff are kept safe and that employers are exercising their responsibilities to their staff to keep them safe. I'll pursue that with the health Minister further.