Questions Without Notice from Party Spokespeople

Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:44 pm on 20 January 2021.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 1:44, 20 January 2021

Well, we are already working with not just figures who have helped us in the past—so Emmanuel Ogbonna and Ray Singh are also looking to be helpful—but also Race Council Cymru. We're looking to reach out to community leaders, as we have been doing, because I do recognise this is a real concern. So, you have this juxtaposition of, on the one hand, people from black and Asian origin communities being more likely to suffer harm from COVID, and, on the other, rather than being the keenest to get protection from the vaccine, it's actually where there is the largest amount of vaccine scepticism. And, as you will know, there is a lot of fake news being spread around about the vaccine, about its efficacy, about the whole COVID pandemic in any event, and it's one of those occasions when I actually think it's not just about this Government, but about all four Governments and all people at the responsible end of politics, regardless of which party we're in, having a unified message for our constituents, and that is that these vaccines are approved only by an independent regulator. No politician decides whether the vaccines are safe and effective. The regulator decides whether they can be used and how they can be used, and it's then the job of politicians and our health services to make sure they're delivered. So, I would encourage everyone, when it's your turn, to make sure you're ready, take the vaccine, have the protection and then you will be protecting yourselves, your loved ones, and, of course, many other people across the country too.