More than half of adult population in Wales have received first dose of Covid vaccine

More than half of the adult population in Wales has received the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the health minister has confirmed.

During a press conference on Monday, Vaughan Gething said, "This really is remarkable in less than four months since the start of the programme. And almost 350,000 people have completed the full two-dose course."

It comes as parts of the non-essential retail sector has begun reopening in Wales with the easing of restrictions in supermarkets and the opening of garden centres.

Public Health Wales also confirmed on Monday that there were no reported coronavirus deaths in the last 24 hours, with 150 new cases across the country.

Despite the success of the vaccine programme, Mr Gething said, "We need to level with the public" about the fact some restrictions are likely at points in the year.

"I don't expect to return to foreign holidays and travel any time soon. We need to think about what's happening here and other parts of the world."

He also said the Welsh Government would not rule out imposing local restrictions in Merthyr Tydfil and Anglesey, following a spike in cases there.

The health minister used the press conference to focus on a recovery plan for the NHS with a cash boost of £100m to help the service recover from the pandemic. He said due to the pressure of the last year, there are more than 540,000 people in Wales on waiting lists for hospital referrals.

"The expansion of critical care capacity to treat seriously ill patients combined with measures to protect people from contracting coronavirus in outpatient clinics and surgeries have dramatically reduced NHS capacity to see and treat people", he said.

"It is our priority to make sure people waiting for treatment get their treatment. We don't want people’s health deteriorating or people coming to harm while they are on a waiting list."