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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:37 pm on 9 February 2021.

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Photo of Rhun ap Iorwerth Rhun ap Iorwerth Plaid Cymru 4:37, 9 February 2021

(Translated)

I would like to thank everybody involved in the vaccination process in Wales, which is clearly on the right track and that's something that we should celebrate. I was over in the vaccination centre in Ysbyty Enfys in Bangor yesterday, at the invitation of the health board, and it's useful to be able to see for ourselves in order to give comfort to some people who may be still concerned about the process. But it's very striking, not just how smooth and effective the system is, but how committed the staff are who are part of the process, and I know that we're all very grateful to them.

I was pleased to hear today that there will be a change to the appointment system, where people will be encouraged, at the moment the over-70s will be encouraged to phone if they haven't had an appointment. There is still a problem with the system and I hope that the Minister would recognise that. One solution that I've discussed locally is the need for more volunteers to do that work of phoning to ask people to come in. There is work within the health board in north Wales to create that army of volunteers. But what support can the Government provide at a national level to ensure that we have those people in place to do that appointment work, because that's going to become more and more intense, as we reach out to more and more groups of people to be vaccinated?

I would ask once again for the full data. I think it is important that we have that full data on the allocation of vaccines to the various nations of the UK and then within Wales too, and the different kinds of vaccines available as well. It's one thing to say that there is information of commercial sensitivity, but it's another thing to hear from Government that they don't know how much has been allocated to each nation. I would suggest that you need to know.

Again, I would ask for investment now, or at least start to invest and plan for investment, in the infrastructure required to deal with the new kinds of mRNA vaccinations. I don't want to hear about a GP, as I have heard, who refuses a tray of Pfizer because he can't deal with the 1,000 doses, and it's that lack of infrastructure making it difficult for that GP to accept that tray that he would have liked to have accepted. So, let's see the plan for the creation of a health and vaccination system in Wales that can cope with this new technology in terms of vaccination.

Finally, now that we see very positive evidence that the vaccinations do provide some protection against the transfer of the virus, isn't it now really time to look again at the list of priorities provided by the JCVI, and bring people such as those working in our schools, in the emergency services and public transport into the system sooner rather than later, as a means of cutting that transmission link from one person to another? We are in a very good place, but there's always room for improvement.