WALES will be given a "proportionate" share of a future coronavirus vaccine by the UK Government, the Welsh health minister has said.

Vaughan Gething also said plans to deploy the treatment to those most in need were already in place if it became available before the end of this year.

Mr Gething was responding to concerns expressed by Plaid Cymru's shadow health minister Rhun ap Iorwerth that the Welsh Government's policy was "to leave things largely to the UK Government when it comes to vaccination".

Speaking at the Welsh Parliament's plenary on Wednesday, Mr Gething said: "I think it's a slight miscasting of the way the system is actually working to say we're leaving it to the UK Government.

"The UK Government procures the vaccine on behalf of the whole UK. We then take our population shares of that so we will get the vaccines that are available, when they're available, at the same time and in the appropriate proportion as with every other part of the UK."

Mr Gething said the first recipients of any vaccine would be "the most vulnerable population" within every country, taking into account how effective it would be for those with certain health conditions and of particular age ranges.

Plans were already in place to deploy a vaccine to "a limited group of people" in Wales if one became available before January, he said, but the "more realistic prospect" was that they would be begin to be circulated "in greater numbers" at some point in the new year.

Mr ap Iorwerth replied: "I admire your trust in the UK Government.

"Just like with testing and various other elements of what we've experienced over the past seven, eight months, with PPE and so on, my fear is that you're afraid of taking as much control as you possibly could."

Mr Gething also told the plenary that as of Tuesday, there were 1,344 Covid-related patients in hospital beds in Wales, marking a 21% increase from the same day last week.

"This is the highest number of Covid-rated patients since April 25 and we are approaching the April peak in bed occupancy," he said.

Eluned Morgan, the minister for mental health and wellbeing, earlier told the Government's Covid-19 press briefing that Wales now had 250 cases of the virus per 100,000 people.

Rhondda Cynon Taff, Blaenau Gwent, and Merthyr Tydfil had seen rates higher than 500 cases per 100,000 people, she said.