Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 3:20 pm on 7 July 2021.
Well, thanks very much, Sarah, and can I assure you that there is not going to be any big liberation day here in Wales when it comes to COVID, not when rates are increasing at the rate they are? It really defies belief to look at what's happening in England, when you see the rates increasing at the rate they are. Our decisions will be based on science, they'll be based on evidence, and we are very pleased to see the number of people in Wales who have taken the opportunity to have the vaccine, and we know now that there is definitely a weakening when we see the relationship between contracting the virus and having the vaccine and hospitalisations and deaths. So, that's the good news.
The other good news is that, actually, adults have been taking up this opportunity. There's still an issue with younger people, which is why we have set up walk-in centres, which were set up across Wales last weekend. But I think we have also got to be realistic and get to a place to understand that we are going to have to live with COVID; it's not going to disappear. But we will need to do that in a cautious way, understanding that there will always be vulnerable people within our communities and we need to be sensitive to them as well, whilst, of course, understanding the other harms that people are experiencing. In particular, there are economic harms, mental health harms and social harms that we also have to bear in mind. So, next week, we as a Government will be setting out our next steps in terms of the virus and our route-map in Wales.