Health minister must urgently clarify over 80s jabs comments

Andrew RT Davies has called on Labour’s health minister to urgently clarify comments made in the Senedd regarding the number of over 80s that had received their first vaccine jab in Wales.

On Tuesday, in response to a question from Mr Davies on the number of over 80s that had been vaccinated in Wales, Vaughan Gething said his current understanding was that “we have already managed to do so for the majority of our over-80s population.”

However, statistics provided today by Public Health Wales show just under a quarter of over 80s in Wales have been given their first dose of coronavirus vaccine. There have been 43,879 doses – which is 23.9% of this priority group for the Covid-19 jab.

Calling on the minister to make an urgent statement clarifying the situation and if necessary correcting the record, Welsh Conservative health spokesperson, Andrew RT Davies MS said:

“The huge difference between the Minister’s claim on Tuesday and the statistics published today by Public Health Wales is very concerning and shows a Minister that is not across important detail.

“At this time, it’s vital Labour ministers provide accurate information to the people of Wales, particularly in relation to the vaccine programme, and the Senedd nor the public should be misled.

“Many concerns have been raised by the public regarding the rollout and communication from the Welsh Labour Government and this once again this emphasises the importance of appointing an individual whose sole focus is on the vaccine rollout in Wales.

“The Health Minister must make an urgent statement to clarify the number of over 80s that have received a vaccine in Wales and if necessary correct the record.”

In Tuesday’s plenary meeting of the Senedd, in response to Andrew RT Davies, Labour’s health minister claimed that his “current understanding is that we have already managed to do so for the majority of our over-80s population.” Link: https://record.assembly.wales/Plenary/11171?lang=en-GB

Today, figures from Public Health Wales show just under a quarter of over 80s in Wales have been given their first dose of coronavirus vaccine – there have been 43,879 doses – which is 23.9% of this priority group for the Covid-19 jab. Link to BBC story: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55750297

Andrew RT Davies tweets can be found here: https://twitter.com/AndrewRTDavies/status/1352242724028690433?s=20