By Lesley Griffith, MS for Wrexham

The Covid-19 vaccine rollout remains the key issue for constituents at the current time. I continue to correspond regularly with Welsh Government and Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board officials. I am receiving updates on a daily basis and sharing the information with constituents as soon as I can.

The bottom line is that if you are aged 70 or over, you should receive your vaccine by mid-February. I understand those still waiting to hear will be anxious but, from the updates I regularly receive, I am reassured the Welsh Government and local Health Board are confident it will have the capacity to meet the first target. This means everyone in the top four priority groups (all frontline health and care workers; everyone living and working in care homes and everyone over 70) will be vaccinated by the middle of next month, in line with the rest of the UK. This requires more than 184,000 vaccines to be delivered before February 14 and, just to reiterate, BCUHB is confident of achieving that goal.

Every day, the rollout is gathering pace. As of last Wednesday, 176,000 people in Wales had received their first dose of the vaccine and around 70% of care home residents and over 80s have now been vaccinated. Approximately 30,000 people were vaccinated in North Wales last week and that figure will continue to accelerate in the weeks ahead.

All GP surgeries in Wrexham and across North Wales are now signed up and are administering the vaccine. Wrexham's two Local Vaccination Centres, which will be located at Glyndwr University and Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, are scheduled to open when the number of vaccines available to the Health Board reaches over 40,000 per week, and/or where GP Clusters request a vaccination site.

Ultimately progress will depend on the reliability of vaccine supplies but currently, the picture is positive and both the Welsh Government and Health Board expect to achieve its first target by the middle of next month, as set out in the Vaccination Strategy.

Nobody wants to live in fear and under these strict restrictions and we all see the vaccine as a shining light that will help guide us out of this pandemic. We are in a race to beat this virus and the overriding aim of the Welsh Government and NHS is to vaccinate as many people as quickly and safely as possible.

I hope to receive further information this week and will continue to keep constituents up-to-date. If any constituent wishes to receive the updates, please contact me via email: lesley.griffiths@senedd.wales or call 01978 355743.