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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:40 pm on 9 February 2021.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 4:40, 9 February 2021

There is always room for improvement, and I look forward to the coming weeks and months. There is certainly no complacency from our fantastic vaccination teams across the country in terms of what we're doing and what we think that we're going to be able to do, and need to do, in the weeks and months ahead.

On the appointments system, we are already looking at other potential uses of staff and volunteers, and, indeed, an online booking system, as we are rolling out to wider groups of the public, to make it easier for people to get a booking. We will also need to make sure that the second booking is done effectively and efficiently, while still running large numbers of first doses as well.

On vaccine supply, I expect that, this week, we will, in each of the nations, be able to publish some information on vaccine supply already received, which I hope will put the Member's mind at ease about the share that we are getting, but also about the use that we are making of that supply as well. It's taken certainly longer than I would have wanted to, but we, I think, have finally got to a position where all four Governments—and, indeed, the manufacturers—can have something that we can all provide to give the clarity that some people are looking for.

On your point about the information you have about a GP who can't accept a full tray of Pfizer at present, it's a combination of different points here, I think. It's the way that we get the trays, the size they are available in, and how they can and can't be broken down. It's also the reality that we aren't in a position to create that infrastructure in the immediate here and now. I appreciate that you are asking a future question, but it is a future question. Right now, with the amount of priorities that we have to deal with to roll out the programme, I think that to be wondering about how we can have storage facilities that can keep vaccines at under -70 degrees centigrade in local GP practices is probably the wrong priority for what we actually have to do now.

We do have to think about the lessons that we are learning as we go through the pandemic, as well as future courses, because it is entirely possible that there will be future pandemics. In many ways, the UK was lucky with SARS because SARS didn't arrive here and stay in larger numbers. SARS was actually even more deadly in terms of its acquisition rate and fatality rate than the current pandemic is. So, we have been incredibly fortunate. But, because other parts of the world were burned much more significantly by SARS, they had to have those arrangements in place. I have no doubt that, at the end of this, in every nation of the UK, we will have different arrangements in place for future pandemics, and that has to be a good thing for all of us.

When it comes to the JCVI priorities, it's a question asked on a consistent basis. Indeed, it was in First Minister's questions. We have a list of JCVI priorities that are about saving the maximum number of lives. We have asked, and we have representatives who are constantly looking at evidence from the JCVI and the questions that we have. We are looking not just at 1 to 9, but at the next phase as well, and about how we continue to save the maximum number of lives possible. That advice, at present, gives us our current priority groups. That's what we are working through at tremendous pace, and we will continue to do so.