The Welsh Government is “on track” to vaccinate all adults over the age of 50 in Wales by May, education minister Kirsty Williams has said.
Speaking at the latest coronavirus briefing on Friday (February 5) she said: “We are vaccinating more people per head of 100,000 than any other part of the UK and that is a tremendous logistical professional and indeed a community response.
"There are lots of volunteers out there that are assisting our NHS, our primary care practitioners and GP surgeries."
She was joined at the briefing by deputy chief medical officer Dr Chris Jones and when asked if all over 50s would be vaccinated by May, she said to him: "It’s a tremendous effort, but Dr Jones I think we’re on track to do just that?”
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Chris Jones replied: “Yeah, I don’t really have anything to add. That is the plan.”
Earlier, the Cabinet Office said it was right to say all adults aged 50 and over in the UK will have had a coronavirus vaccine by May.
In a chaotic briefing for journalists, a No 10 spokesman initially said that a Cabinet Office press notice - confirming local elections would go ahead on May 6 - had been issued “in error” and had been withdrawn.
However, a few minutes later the spokesman said the notice - which said the vaccination programme planned to have reached all nine priority cohorts by May - was correct. “We have confirmed today that the elections must go ahead,” the spokesman said. “The Cabinet Office document is correct.”
The Government had previously only said its “ambition” was to vaccinate the nine priority cohorts by the spring.
The spokesman said Boris Johnson will set out a “precise timetable” on February 15.
The Welsh Government said that more than 523,000 people in Wales had received their first Covid-19 vaccination, meaning one in every six adults have had a vaccine.
Latest stats show that 83% of over 80s, 62% of 75 to 79 year olds, 34% of 70 to 74 year olds and more than 112,400 frontline health and social care workers have been vaccinated.
Wales is still leading the UK for the rolling rate of total Covid-19 vaccinations given per population and is on track to vaccinate three quarters of a million people by mid-February.
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Government said: "Once someone has had the vaccine, we ask everyone to follow the same steps to keep themselves and Wales safe; wear a mask, keep a 2m distance, wash your hands regularly and keep rooms as well ventilated as possible.
"We are still learning about how the vaccine affects transmission of the virus.
"And please remember, you will be invited to for an appointment when it is your turn – do not call your local health services, unless you are asked to do so, as this will add to their already pressured workloads."
The latest Public Health Wales figures show that the Wales infection rate is 129.8 per 100,000 population for the seven days up to January 31, a slight increase from 126.5 on Thursday.
