TIME TICKING FOR WALES TO BE ‘DECEMBER READY’

“Welsh Government must urgently deliver their vaccination rollout programme” – Adam Price MS

Leader of Plaid Cymru, Adam Price MS, has called for details of the Welsh Government’s coronavirus vaccine roll out plan.

Last week, the Scottish Government announced their plan for vaccine roll out, including details of who would be first to receive the vaccine in Scotland. 

During First Minister Questions, Mr Price asked:

“Can the First Minister confirm whether Wales too is ready, and if so, when we can expect to see details of the Welsh Government’s vaccination rollout programme which includes a timeline of who will be vaccinated, and when?”

First Minister, Mark Drakeford confirmed that the Welsh Government had a “very active planning group” and that they would follow the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) but did not yet have a plan.

The independent report on Priority groups for coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccination from the JCVI was published on 25 September 2020, and includes a “provisional ranking of prioritisation for persons at-risk”. 

Leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price MS said,

“Just ten days after we heard the encouraging news that Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine was proving to be 90% effective in trials, the Scottish Government’s Health Secretary, Jeane Freeman, presented a comprehensive rollout plan to the Holyrood parliament. In the Health Secretary’s words, Scotland is ‘ready for December.’

“December is just a week away, the first vaccine might arrive very soon after that. It’s essential that Wales has a plan to deliver the first vaccines to our priority group, but the Welsh Government is yet to identify who the priority group is.

“The speed at which these vaccines have been produced has been phenomenal, but without a roll-out plan, we’ll be behind the rest of the UK if we’re unable to hit the ground running once the vaccines are made available to us.

“Welsh Government must urgently deliver their vaccination rollout programme, before waiting to receive the first batch. This needs to include a timeline of who will be vaccinated and when. Wales must be ‘December ready’ for the Covid-19 vaccine and time is ticking.”