Yahoo Finance Wales' Covid vaccine rollout criticised as first minister defends delay
The Covid vaccination programme in Wales has been heavily criticised after the first minister, Mark Drakeford, said the deployment of tens of thousands of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs was being staggered to avoid staff sitting around with nothing to do once the country gets through its current supply.
Doctors’ representatives, opposition politicians and citizens waiting for their vaccine expressed deep concern and called for the Labour-led government to speed up its distribution.
Wales has so far has been provided with about 300,000 Covid vaccinations, around 250,000 of them the Pfizer version and 50,000 the Oxford jab. By Monday it had vaccinated just over 150,000 people.
The Oxford vaccine is being used as soon as it arrives in the country from centralised UK supplies and has already got through 95% of its current ration.
But speaking on the BBC on Monday morning, Drakeford said that as Wales was not due to get any more Pfizer vaccines until the end of this month or the start of next, it was staggering its rollout.
He said: “We have to use that over that six-week stretch. There would be no point, I think, and it would be logistically very damaging to try to use all of that in the first week and then have all of our vaccinators standing around with nothing to do for another month.
“The sensible thing to do is use the vaccine you have got over the period that you have got it for so your system can absorb it. You don’t have people standing about with nothing to do.”
Following an outcry, a Welsh government spokesperson insisted that it was on course to vaccinate all members of the top four priority groups by mid-February.
The spokesperson did not repeat Drakeford’s reasoning but said it was organising the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine in such a way as to avoid wastage.
“The Pfizer vaccine comes in large packs, which cannot be split and must be stored at ultra-low temperatures – at -70c. There are only two centres in Wales where we can keep them at this temperature. Once removed from storage, the vaccine lasts five-days. Every dose wasted is a vaccine which cannot be given to someone in Wales. Health boards are receiving all the doses of Pfizer they can use.”
Speaking at the Welsh government’s press conference on Monday lunchtime, the education minister, Kirsty Williams, said: “We are not holding back on any supplies. We are distributing Pfizer in a careful way to ensure there is infrastructure in place to deliver it safely and most efficiently, avoiding waste.”
The supply in Wales suffered a blow after a batch of 26,000 Oxford vaccines failed testing. Wales is due to receive those vaccines next week, and the Welsh government said the hitch would not affect its February target.
But the Welsh Conservatives said the system was “not fit for purpose”.
Andrew RT Davies, the shadow minister for health, said: “The Welsh Labour government is failing to deliver its vaccine programme. His [Drakeford’s] shocking … decision to delay deployment of Pfizer vaccine supplies is dangerous and makes no clinical sense whatsoever. We need to get these vaccinations into people’s arms ASAP. Lives and livelihoods across Wales are at stake.”
Davies added: “People, especially in the vulnerable groups or those over 80, will today be wondering just what to believe from the Welsh government, just what it’s doing, and just when they will receive their vaccinations.
“This contradictory and confusing messaging from ministers will allay no-one’s concerns and will likely add to their anxiety.”
About 5% of the population has been vaccinated in Wales, compared with 6% in England.
The Plaid Cymru health spokesperson, Rhun ap Iorwerth, asked: “Why are we rationing here? To see the first minister being relaxed about the slow pace of the vaccine rollout here is very, very frustrating.”
The British Medical Association in Wales expressed concern about the tactic of staggering vaccines.
It tweeted: “Extremely concerned the Welsh government is spacing out the Pfizer vaccine to make it last until the next delivery. If Pfizer vaccines are available, second does must be given within the maximum 42-day timeline and all remaining vaccinations for staff must be accelerated.”
Michael Jenkins, whose 90-year-old father, Harry, has not received a date for his first jab, called on the government to speed up the pace of the programme. He said his father, a retired surveyor from Swansea, had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but was still waiting for his appointment.
“People like my father are being put at risk unnecessarily,” he said. “He and pensioners like him need the jab as soon as then can. I think the Welsh government is dragging its heels. I’m not criticising our doctors and nurses. They’re doing a fantastic job. But there is a blockage in the system that needs to be sorted out.”
