3. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19 Vaccinations

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:14 pm on 2 February 2021.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:14, 2 February 2021

Thank you for the comments and questions. In particular thank you for recognising the progress that is being made and the pace of what we're able to deliver in Wales with a joint team approach.

On the questions, with the death toll that we're still seeing, it's a reality that, as we're going in the right direction, we're still going to see relatively high numbers of people coming to harm, and we'll see that in the death figures. As we went through the first peak, when we were moving in the right direction, we still had to go through a number of weeks of quite large death tolls to report, I'm afraid. And given the numbers of people we still have in our hospitals, I'm afraid we are going to see more people losing their lives in the coming weeks ahead, even though the picture is improving. So, there'll be more families each week who will be mourning the loss of loved ones, and that is why it's important that we're positive about not just what we're doing in the vaccination programme, but the reassurance for people that they won't be forgotten or left behind. So, if there are people who are over 80 who have yet to have their jabs, they will get appointments and they will get covered; they will get protected in Wales just as in the rest of the United Kingdom.