6. Will the First Minister provide an update on the uptake of the second dose of the COVID-19 vaccines in Wales? OQ56794

I thank the Member for that question, Llywydd. Our vaccination programme continues to make excellent progress across Wales. As of today, 73 per cent of people aged 18 and over in Wales have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and that is the highest rate anywhere in the United Kingdom.

I thank the First Minister for that answer. I was recently contacted by a constituent who is a student at Swansea University and received a first dose of the vaccine from the Swansea Bay University Health Board, but has come across significant issues trying to arrange the second vaccination elsewhere. If you'll indulge me, I'll read an excerpt of their correspondence, which says, 'I was living in Swansea as a student and got my first dose of the vaccine there. However, when moving back to my home address, I found it extremely difficult to contact Cardiff and Vale health board about the second vaccination. I was pushed from pillar to post and it took me about three or four days of contacting different people where I was continually told that I cannot phone them for my second vaccination, nor could I arrange for my second vaccination to be taken in another health board. It was only through a great deal of persistence and hours spent on the phone that I managed to get this appointment changed, but the system really isn't good enough, and I know that others in my position just won't bother taking the second dose if there is this much hassle involved'. So, can I ask, First Minister, what action are you taking to ensure that the process of booking a second vaccination in a different health board to the first is made as easy as possible for those, like students, who live in different places at different times of the year?

I certainly agree that the system should be as easy as possible. We made a conscious decision to allow students to have their vaccines in different places. You wouldn't have to trail all the way back to the university where you were based in order to get a second vaccine. The good news for the Member's constituent is this: in every part of Wales, there are now walk-in vaccination centres, where you don't need an appointment, you don't need to go through any complex procedure, you simply turn up and you get your vaccination. I'd urge all young people in Wales who have been made an offer of a first or second dose of the vaccine to take up that offer. It really is as easy as we can make it, and I think the best advice to any young person is: 'Take advantage of it because it will protect you and it will protect people who matter to you.'