COVID-19 Vaccines in South Wales East

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 3:36 pm on 9 February 2021.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:36, 9 February 2021

Well, Dirprwy Lywydd, I thank the Member for both of those important questions. On the timing of the second dose of the vaccine, I've been contacted by a number of people telling me how pleased they were that when they went away from the mass vaccination centre where they'd received their first jab, they were given the date and the time to come back for their second vaccination. I think that gave them a lot of confidence that the system here in Wales is already geared up for what will be, Dirprwy Lywydd, a major challenge over coming weeks and months, because, from now on, not only will we be offering a first vaccination to people in the next set of priority groups, but we will be offering a second vaccination to people who we've already offered a first to as we complete groups 1 to 4. That is a major challenge. But as you've seen, the health service in Wales has risen magnificently to the first challenge, and I'm confident that the plans are in place to allow that second dose of vaccine to be delivered in time with the advice that we have from the JCVI.

As to the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccination for the South African variant, there is still a great deal of work being done by scientists to assess that efficacy, and we get advice directly to the Welsh Government through those scientific communities. The preferable course of action, of course, is to make sure that we don't have the South African variant in circulation here in Wales, and a huge effort is going on to make sure that, in that small number of cases that have been identified, everything is being done to prevent onward transmission.

What we need to see, I believe, is a stronger set of defences at our borders. The UK Government's red list is the bare minimum of what needs to be done to make sure that all the gains that are being made in suppressing the virus and vaccinating our population are not put at risk by people coming into the United Kingdom from other parts of the world where further new variants may already be in the brew. So, work is going on on the efficacy of the AstraZeneca vaccination, but more could be done to mitigate the risk of those new variants coming into the United Kingdom in the first place.