Each week, we will provide you with an update on where we are with the Covid-19 vaccine roll out in Gwent. Here's this week's update:
As a Health Board, our intent is to vaccinate as many eligible people as quickly and as safely as possible. We are following the Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority groups and have plans in place to vaccinate the top two priority groups in the first instance. These are:
1. Residents in a Care Home for older adults and their carers
2. Over 80s and frontline Health and Social Care workers
The total number of people within Gwent who fall within the top two priority groups equates to a total of 60,400 people - 30,000 of whom are over 80.
We plan to open a number of mass vaccination centres across Gwent, including in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly borough, Monmouthshire and Newport, as vaccine supply becomes available. In addition, mobile units will be used to help deliver the vaccine to care homes and via some GP practices across Gwent.
The approval of the AstraZeneca vaccine has now enabled us to start vaccinating residents within care homes.
Over the first three weeks of delivering the roll-out, we have vaccinated more than 6,000 people, using all the supply we received. We have plans in place to deliver to the top two priority groups in line with future supplies, as they become available.
For residents over the age of 80, the majority of residents will receive their invitation for the vaccine via letter, which you should expect to receive over the next few weeks. If appointments are available at short notice people may also be contacted by phone but the main invitation route will be via letter.
Within the next couple of weeks, every household across Gwent will receive a letter from the Health Board and Local Authority with further information about the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine.
We will continue to keep you updated. However, due to a number of variable factors (such as the number of doses we are allocated), plans can change at short notice.
We want to thank you for your continued support and together we will help keep Gwent safe.
For further information and FAQs, please visit the Public Health Wales website.