“WE NEED A STEP UP IN PACE IF WE’RE TO WIN THE RACE”

Adam Price MS calls for more urgency in vaccination rollout

Adam Price MS, Leader of Plaid Cymru, has today called for a “real step up” in order to outpace the virus.

Responding to a Welsh Government press conference, in which the Health Minister confirmed that all priority groups in Phase One would be vaccinated “by Spring”, Mr Price called for answers as to why the response from Wales has been behind other UK nations, and what lessons have been learnt.

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price MS said,

“The announcement of the vaccine deployment plan is a positive step, and it’s something that Plaid Cymru has long been calling for.

“We now need a real step up in terms of pace. We’ve been told this is a marathon, not a sprint, but that diminishes the urgency that is needed right now. The Welsh Government has admitted there is a gap – they now need to tell us what they’re going to do to close this gap between Wales and the other UK nations.

“The plan does not yet tell us how government is going to get from 86,000 people being vaccinated in 1 month, to 1.6m people being vaccinated ‘by Spring’ – this concrete detail is needed for any good roadmap.

“There are also unanswered questions about why the response in Wales has been different to the rest of the UK, and what lessons have been learnt. We know that Wales has a higher proportion of people in the higher priority groups, yet we’re only getting a population share.

“We have to outpace the virus and to do that we need to be able to see the road along which we are travelling.”