A third of adults have had Covid vaccination
WALES has become the first UK nation to administer the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination to the equivalent of a third of its adult population.
On Friday, Public Health Wales said 839,065 people had received their first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca or Pfizer/BioNTech jab - equating to 33.3% of adults in the country.
The figure was 32.1% in England and 31.3% in Scotland on Friday, with Thursday’s figures for Northern Ireland at 29.4%.
First Minister Mark Drakeford praised the “enormous efforts” of those involved with the country’s vaccination programme during a press conference yesterday.
“We’re making really good progress with our vaccination programme thanks to the enormous efforts of all of those involved across Wales,” Mr Drakeford said.
“The very latest figures show that almost 840,000 people in Wales have already had their first dose and that’s equivalent to a full third of the adult population of Wales.
“This week we started offering people appointments for the second dose and more than 25,000 people have already had theirs.
“We are on track to reach the next milestone, to offer vaccination to everybody in priority groups five to nine by the end of April, provided that vaccine supplies also remain on course.”
Wales was also the first UK nation to offer coronavirus vaccines to everyone in the top four priority groups, with the Welsh Government announcing that it had hit the target on February 12.
Yesterday, Mr Drakeford said the coronavirus situation in Wales had “improved significantly” since lockdown measures were introduced on December 20.
The seven-day incidence rate is around 84 cases per 100,000 people in Wales, with positivity rates falling and the R number below 1.
There is now evidence that reductions in community transmission are being seen in the NHS, with the number of people in hospital falling below 1,800 for the first time since early December.
The number of people with Covid-19 requiring intensive care treatment is also 50% lower than at the peak of the pandemic.
Mr Drakeford told reporters that this had created “headroom” to make changes to restrictions, including the return of children aged three to seven to the classroom from Monday.
Four people from two different households will also be able to exercise outdoors together.
THE Scout Association has apologised to the family of a teenager after his inquest was delayed due to concerns a jury was misled.
Ben Leonard, 16, suffered a serious head injury when he fell about 200ft at Great Orme in Llandudno while on a trip with the Reddish Explorer Scouts on August 26, 2018.
Jurors at an inquest into his death last February were discharged before reaching their conclusions after assistant coroner for North Wales East and Central David Pojur said the Scout Association had failed to provide the court with full information and “created a misleading impression”.
At a pre-inquest review hearing at Ruthin County Hall yesterday, Toby Riley-Smith QC, representing the Association, told the coroner: “The board members of the Scout Association have asked me to offer an apology both to you and to members of Ben’s family.
“They are very sorry for what happened at the hearing last February and for the fact you were not given the assistance you needed.
“They are very sorry the original jury was therefore discharged and your investigation has been so delayed, and they are very sorry that as a result Ben’s family have not been able to achieve the closure that they need and deserve.”
Last year, Mr Pojur issued a report to prevent future deaths, to be sent to the Scout Association, after hearing that Ben, from Stockport, Greater Manchester, had been unaccompanied by a leader when he fell from the cliff edge.
A new inquest had been planned for July last year, but was delayed due to the pandemic.
The court heard the Scouts’ UK chief commissioner Tim Kidd and chief operating officer Ross Maloney would be called as witnesses at a new hearing, and chief executive Matt Hyde, who attended the hearing via videolink, would be ready to give evidence if required.
Mr Pojur said a new inquest hearing would not be held for a “good number of months”, but another pre-inquest review would be held within three months.
FISH poo helps remove 1.65 billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere, according to a new study.
Researchers have found that carbon in faeces, respiration and other excretions from fish make up about 16% of the total carbon that sinks below the ocean’s upper layers.
Dr Clive Trueman, associate professor in marine ecology at the University of Southampton, explained that disrupting the ecosystems of the oceans could lead to more carbon being released into the atmosphere.
He said: “Measuring the amount of carbon that is captured and stored by different kinds of animals and plants is very important as we try to reduce the total amount of carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere.”