Wales to 'match' England's Covid-19 vaccination targets and have most vulnerable offered jab by mid February
Wales is aiming to match England's vaccination targets according to the doctor in charge of the jab rollout.
This means that everyone in the top four priority groups - including care home residents, frontline health and social care workers, the over 70s and those considered extremely clinically vulnerable - could be offered a vaccine in the coming weeks.
Dr Gillian Richardson, the senior officer behind Wales’ COVID-19 Vaccine Programme told ITV News that "if supply is forthcoming" the ambition would be for Wales to match the targets set by Boris Johnson for England.
She said: "We anticipate that if England have set a target, the supply must be there to meet that. We would therefore be expecting to receive our population share of that supply.
"So if that supply is forthcoming we would be hoping to match those timescales."
Julie White says the vaccine will allow her to "live my life" again and she is desperate to know how long she will have to wait before getting it.
She said: "Since the beginning of the virus I've been stuck indoors.
"I want to know how long I'll have to wait because I don't want to lose my life - like thousands of other people.
"I don't want to die before my time and this is what's going to happen if they don't put people who are most vulnerable in the high risk categories."
The 55-year-old from Bridgend is classed as 'extremely clinically vulnerable' because she has recently had a kidney transplant.
She is in the fourth priority group and is therefore not being offered the vaccine yet.
Boris Johnson said his government is aiming to offer jabs to everyone in top four priority groups in England by mid-February.
The Welsh Government, however, has refused to set any targets.
The health minister said it would do more harm than good to publicly set vaccination targets.
Vaughan Gething said: "I understand why there's pressure to have numbers and understand why there's a pressure to say ‘tell us when we’ll get to a certain point in time’.
"But we're still building up an entirely new process - we've only had three and a bit weeks to go through this already," he said.
"I've also indicated we'll publish some milestones in terms of achievement - so when we're getting to the point of completing our care home delivery, we’ll confirm when that is, and when we get to completing different occupational groups, we’ll confirm when that is as well.
"I think we would do much more harm if you gave an artificial ‘plucking a figure out of the air’ and we then didn't achieve that."
The Older People's Commissioner for Wales said people need more "information and assurance" about the vaccination process.
Heléna Herklots said: "During the Christmas period, some older people have contacted me to seek information about the vaccination process - wanting to know what to expect, and when, as well as information about who would be contacting them, and where they can go for help and support if they need it.
"I welcome that the Minister stated during today's update that a letter will be sent to everyone this week to provide further information about the vaccine, and I have shared with him the questions that older people have raised with me to inform the contents of that letter."
Where am I on the vaccine priority list?
People have been grouped within nine priority groups by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The first to receive the vaccine will be care home residents and staff, of which there are approximately 40,250 in Wales
These will be followed by people aged 80 and over, and frontline health and social care workers (around 326,000 people).
The next priority groups will be people aged 75 and over (126,800), those who are clinically vulnerable and aged between 16-69 (247,300), and people who are 65 and over (167,150).
Adults aged 16-64 classed within an at-risk group will be next (321,400), then people who are aged 60+ (125,900), 55+ (150,600) and 50 or more (162,850).
The last group to be vaccinated will be people aged 16-49, of which there are almost 1.1 million.
How will the vaccine be rolled out?
The Welsh Government plans to increase the number of vaccination centres in Wales from 14 to 22 in the next few weeks
More than 60 GP surgeries will also be set up to offer the Oxford vaccine, as will mobile units to help people get the jab closer to home.
They will also be training a "range of healthcare workers" to administer the vaccine and they have plans to work with pharmacists, dentists and optometrists to provide vaccination clinics.
People are asked not to phone their GP, pharmacy or hospital to see when they will get a vaccine.
When someone is eligible, they will be invited to attend a dedicated clinic.
The new Oxford vaccine is stored at normal vaccine fridge temperatures, making it much easier to use in care homes and GP surgeries.
Two doses will be needed, with an interval of between four and 12 weeks between them.