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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:31 pm on 23 February 2021.

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Photo of Huw Irranca-Davies Huw Irranca-Davies Labour 3:31, 23 February 2021

Minister, you probably enjoyed, as I did, watching Sir Gareth Edwards's video the other day of his visit to the vaccination centre in Bridgend behind the rugby club. He said in the video that it wasn't true that it was always the case that he enjoyed every visit to the Brewery Field in Bridgend. But it was a great message to all my constituents about the desirability of getting the vaccination and responding to it and getting down to do it. I look forward as well, Minister, to the opening of the Maesteg community vaccination centre in the recreation centre on 1 March. That's really welcome. 

Minister, could I ask you—? I watched the Prime Minister's press conference yesterday evening, which lauded, as we all do, the incredible speed of the roll-out of the vaccination across all parts of the UK, including here in Wales. But, sometimes, he has a tendency to look a little bit too far in the future and to overpromise and underdeliver. We heard last night that, from the end of May, we might be looking at international flights for tourism and holidays, and that nightclubs would be opening on 21 June on the back of mass testing of people in the queues before they go in.

Could you, Minister, comment on those announcements, which have significantly heightened expectations because of the BBC spread across the UK, that nightclubs will be opening, flights will be running from the end of May and so on? How confident can we be, Minister, this far out, that we do not risk rerunning past mistakes of going too far too fast, particularly by the UK Government, and introducing new strains of the virus from around the world, and that we avoid having a devastating resurgence of this virus and new strains throughout next winter? Let's be cautious, step by step, and in some ways, underpromise but overdeliver.