Covid: Wales' vaccine programme 'not a competition'

The "ambition" is for the top priority groups in Wales to get Covid vaccines by mid-February, the first minister has said.

But Mark Drakeford said the Welsh Government was not setting out specific vaccinations targets.

It follows concerns Wales is lagging behind the rest of the UK on the number of people who have had the vaccine.

Mr Drakeford said the roll-out was "not a sprint and secondly it's not a competition".

It comes as a third vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, was approved for use in the UK.

A total of 17 million Moderna doses have been ordered, but supplies are not expected to arrive until spring.

Latest official figures show just under 50,000 people in Wales had received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination in the past month.

Front-line NHS and care home staff had been first in line for the immunisation programme, and Mr Drakeford confirmed paramedics would all get their first jab by next week.

The Welsh Government had been under increasing pressure to give teachers - and other 999 workers such as police officers - the vaccine as a priority, rather than having to wait for the jab, depending on age and medical conditions.

On Friday, Mr Drakeford confirmed that teachers, schools and college staff and those working in special schools - who are in close contact with learners with complex needs - would be prioritised for the immunisation programme.

So far 1.6% of the Welsh population have had a vaccination, up to 3 January, compared to 2.1% in Scotland and Northern Ireland and 1.9% in England.

"An enormous effort is being geared up, it will get quicker over the weeks ahead," Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio Wales.

He said Wales started with seven vaccination centres in December and now has 22.

"We'll be up to 35 by the end of this week and by the start of next week 75 GP practices will be supplied with vaccines, it'll be 100 by the end of next week, and it'll be 250 by the end of this month," he added.

In England, nearly 1.1 million people were given the first dose by 3 January. This is about 1.9% of the population. NHS England said 60% of doses have gone to people aged over 80.

If vaccinations were being given at the same rate in Wales as in England, a further 13,000 people would have been given a dose.

In both Scotland and Northern Ireland, 2.1% of people have been given a first dose.

The Welsh Conservatives' leader in the Senedd Paul Davies said he was "very surprised" a detailed vaccination plan had not been published by the Welsh Government.

"We need to know when these vaccines are coming through, how they are coming through, and who is going to receive them," he said.

Plaid Cymru's health spoksman Rhun ap Iorwerth called for "clear targets" on vaccinations, to ensure "confidence can be built that Wales is on track".

The UK government has set a target to offer vaccination slots to 15 million in the top four priority groups in England - including all over-80s - by 15 February.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that, with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine available, he could pledge one of those groups - care home residents - would all receive their jab by the end of January.

But Mr Drakeford said he was not in a position to set specific targets as his government does not know how many doses of vaccines it will receive "beyond the next two weeks".

"Our targets will be to maximise the use of that supply in every part of Wales," he said.

"I share an ambition to make sure that the top four priority groups are vaccinated for the first dose by the middle of February.

"But that will require the most enormous effort from a health service that is already under huge strain.

"Our health professionals are making every effort they can to deliver this vaccine, as fast as they can, as safely as they can, and are doing that in every part of Wales."