4. Will the Minister provide an update on the roll-out of the vaccine for those working in social care? OQ56135

Thank you. The Welsh Government accepts and has followed the recommendations of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, and is committed to ensuring that front-line social care workers are vaccinated as a priority. Front-line social care workers are, of course, in the current list of priority groups. Care home residents, and the staff that care for them, are in the highest group of priority for vaccination.

Thank you for that answer, Minister. I'd like to raise the matter of those providing domiciliary care, those going into the homes of the elderly and the vulnerable to provide care, particularly those who have been taken on by direct payments, or those providing care privately. I've spoken to some in the workforce, and they are in some doubt about whether they will form part of the social care workforce that will be prioritised for vaccination. Are you able to provide any clarification for them, please?

Yes. Domiciliary care workers are social care workers. People going in to deliver care in people's homes are certainly front-line workers, and you wouldn't just hear that from me. I can see not just my deputy—I see former Ministers who have occupied that brief—and they will recognise that these front-line workers, I think, have got greater recognition as heroes within our health and social care system, where they weren't recognised not that long ago. So, I expect them to be covered in the first few priority groups, and hope the Member will join with others across the political spectrum in encouraging them to take up the vaccine offer, when they're offered it, for the protection it will provide for them and the people that they care for.

It could well be that that question has arisen because so much emphasis has been on social care workers within care homes. I've got a question about those who administer personal and intimate care to children in school settings. I think we can agree that the communication of prioritising these individuals wasn't fantastic—you admitted as much last week, Minister. But the education Minister further clarified that all staff, whether they're in special schools, mainstream schools or further education colleges, if they're involved in the intimate care of pupils, will be classed as social care staff. So, that will include relevant teachers, I'm assuming. How will the information on who all the relevant staff are—how is that going to be fed into the lists that the local health boards are operating, especially as it sounds as if they're going to be late additions to this priority list under the heading of social care staff?

We're working through that with colleagues not just here in education—and the education Minister and I have a very constructive and good working relationship in sharing information and decision making—but also, of course, with staff within local government and within the school sector to identify relevant staff, to make sure they're identified for the vaccination process. We'll need to continue to work through that to make sure we do understand who those people are, so they can get invited for their vaccination. If the Member has individual examples where she's concerned people may be missed, then I'd be happy to consider those together with my colleague, the education Minister.