COVID-19 Vaccination

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:06 pm on 15 December 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:06, 15 December 2020

Well, Llywydd, I can give Nick Ramsay an assurance on that final point that discussions are, of course, ongoing with Aneurin Bevan about any mutual aid that can be provided or any further measures that can be taken to support the hospitals in that part of Wales, which are under some of the greatest strains, given the numbers of people in that part of Wales who are suffering from coronavirus. 

In relation to vaccination, I say to Nick Ramsay that the approach we have taken in Wales is to contact all four contractor professions—so, not simply GPs, but also pharmacists, optometrists and dentists—to see what contribution they may able to make to a mass vaccination programme, because all of those are professions where people carry out injections and other forms of clinical intervention every single day. I was very heartened yesterday to see the very positive responses we have had from all four of those professions—all of them offering to be part of a mass vaccination programme. I think that will give us an extra resilience here in Wales, as well as being able to draw in a wider range of experienced clinical professionals who can safely administer the vaccination. That will sometimes involve asking people who have recently retired to come back and be part of that effort, and I think that's very sensible as well. But I think, in Wales, we're drawing on the range of primary care professionals we have who are willing to make a contribution. We know that pharmacists carry out flu vaccinations in increasing numbers every year in Wales, and optometrists and dentists have skills, experiences and abilities that they, too, are willing to contribute to that effort, and that is how we are planning the future of our vaccination programme in Wales.