Adam Price

Carmarthen East and Dinefwr Member of the Senedd Adam Price has today warned of the possibilities of a “vaccine postcode lottery” unless distribution of the vaccine in Wales was accelerated. The Pfizer and Oxford vaccines are being distributed in Wales currently, in line with the strategy of the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation. Prioritisation for the vaccine is as follows:

1. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers
2. All those 80 years of age and over, and health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over, and individuals deemed clinically extremely vulnerable
5. All those 65 years of age and over
6. Adults aged 18 to 64 years with underlying health conditionswhich put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. All those 60 years of age and over
8. All those 55 years of age and over
9. All those 50 years of age and over

However, the local Senedd Member reported that many people were contacting the constituency office to communicate concerns around the rollout of the vaccine.

Adam Price said: “What we’re understanding from the reports we are receiving is that there is significant geographical variation in the amount of vaccines available, even for people in the highest Priority Tier. It is becoming increasingly clear that the demand is massively out-scaling the supply available to our communities. We desperately need a large influx of vaccines, as Wales has an older, generally more vulnerable population – our allocation of the total amount of vaccines needs to reflect this.

The Welsh Government must act quickly before the situation descends into a hyper-local postcode lottery.”