Thank you, Llywydd. Today we have published the second of our reports summarising progress against our national COVID-19 vaccination strategy. These reports are published every Tuesday, in addition to the surveillance data being published by Public Health Wales that is published both daily and weekly, and the operational data that is being published by Welsh Government statisticians. According to the figures published at midday today, the NHS Wales-led programme has vaccinated more than 439,000 people across Wales. That is almost 14 per cent of the population. The latest information I have also shows that over 60 per cent of our first priority groups have now received their first dose of the vaccine. The pace is continuing to increase, and we are making strong progress. The effectiveness of our infrastructure and the growth in capacity are clear for all to see.

We have already hit two markers in our vaccine strategy. We have offered all front-line Welsh ambulance service staff their first dose of the vaccine. We also exceeded our end-of-January marker to have more than 250 GP practices deploying the vaccine. Last week’s report confirmed that this marker had been achieved ahead of schedule, with over 300 practices running clinics. The number has increased again to over 400 practice locations, demonstrating the high level of engagement across all parts of our health service to work together to deliver the COVID-19 vaccination programme as quickly and as safely as possible. Protecting the vulnerable has always been at the heart of our response to the pandemic and it remains at the forefront of our fight back against this terrible disease.

The final marker that we've been working towards is vaccinating the first priority group set by the UK’s independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation—people living in a care home for older adults and their staff carers. We set out to reach all those care homes that it was possible to reach by the end of January and to make sure that plans were in place for those care homes that have had COVID-19 outbreaks and incidents to be done as soon as possible. I am pleased to confirm again that we have achieved this marker, as confirmed yesterday by my colleague Eluned Morgan. Health boards have confirmed they have visited all older person care homes that it has been safe to send vaccination teams into. For those homes where it has not been safe, visits are planned during February, as soon as the public health advice allows.

As with our delivery model generally, a blended approach is in place for older person care homes. For some care homes, health boards are sending in vaccination teams to vaccinate both residents and staff. For other care homes, GP practices are organising vaccination for residents, often through a district nurse or small team, with staff being invited to attend mass centres. This mixed model ensures the right approach for the right home, given its context and location. With the three markers on the journey to milestone 1 having been achieved, our focus now is on completing vaccine offers for all those in the first four priority groups. In the last week, we have vaccinated more people as a percentage of our population than any of the other UK nations. We are moving through the priority cohorts and are on track to deliver against our first milestone by the middle of February.

We expect to sustain this level of progress and, in fact, expect to see an additional step up in the rate of vaccination this week. We've built a sustainable programme and are building pace and capacity within it all the time. This week, an additional military aid to civil authorities request has been agreed. This will see a further 90 military personnel brought in to support capacity in the vaccination programme across Wales. I am extremely grateful to our NHS colleagues across Wales whose continued hard work and dedication is making this incredible progress possible, and, of course, their partners in local government, the military and beyond, including the voluntary sector. I am very proud of what we are doing as a country with the vaccination roll-out. We still have a marathon ahead of us, but we can face the next stage with a real sense of confidence in our NHS-led programme here in Wales. Thank you, Llywydd.