‘Stop scaremongering ... Wales IS getting its share of vaccine’ - Gething

CRITICS of the Welsh Covid-19 vaccination programme have been accused of “irresponsible scaremongering”.

Health Minister Vaughan Gething (inset) took to Twitter to lash out at claims that Wales is falling behind the other home nations in the roll-out of vaccine.

He said the programme was “not stuttering” and that

Wales was actually ahead of England on a head-count basis.

According to a Welsh Government source, it is likely to take until the end of 2021 before everyone in Wales is jabbed.

It is not known at whom Mr Gething was aiming his ire.

However in recent days Plaid MS Llyr Gruffydd has questioned whether North Wales is getting its fair share of the Covid-19 vaccine. And former MP Ann Clwyd has called for greater clarity, claiming that many older people in Wales feared they were missing out.

She told BBC Wales: “They’re hearing what’s happening in England and they think everybody’s getting the vaccine apart from them.”

By last week, more than 25,000 people in Wales had received the first of two doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine.

Wales was initially allocated 40,000 doses – enough for 20,000 people.

In his Twitter messages, Mr Gething pledged to publish updated vaccination figures this week.

He said: “The Covid vaccine programme is not stuttering in Wales. It is irresponsible scaremongering to claim it is.

“We are making progress and on our last figures we were slightly ahead of England on a per-head basis.”

Mr Gething said Wales was following the same prioritisation guidelines that have been adopted by every other UK country.

In the first group are care home residents, of which there are an estimated 15,750 in Wales, and care home staff, who number 24,500 in Wales. The next priority group includes 111,850 healthcare workers, 40,000 social care workers and 174,150 people aged 80 and over.

These have been inter-changeable given the logistical difficulties of administering a vaccine that is stored at -70C.

When the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is approved – which could be within days – the rollout speed will be increased dramatically.

However, it could take until Easter until scientists have a fuller understanding of how well the vaccine is working.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said he hopes to have “good coverage” of care homes by “April and May”, plus “more coverage” of other vulnerable people by then.

Mr Gething urged people to be patient.

“I appreciate some people will be concerned but I can say categorically that people in Wales are not being left behind,” he said.

“Our NHS is doing a fantastic job to deliver an unprecedented scale of vaccinations.

“People in Wales will be contacted by the NHS for their vaccine appointment – as we have made clear from the start.

“Please be patient – NHS Wales has not forgotten you.”

Last week Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board began using three mass vaccination centres for care home staff from across North Wales.

The Enfys Hospitals in Deeside, Llandudno and Bangor aim to jab nearly 2,000 care home workers.

Since Mr Gething’s comments last week, updated figures (latest available as of Monday) show that Wales is in fact currently behind England and Scotland, having vaccinated 0.72% of the population, against 0.93% in England and 1.03% in Scotland.