"In Wales, vaccination data goes through a form of quality control to make sure it's accurate and reliable"

The vaccine roll-out in Wales continues to accelerate, and we are now administering jabs faster than any other UK nation. The vaccination programme is the key to offering us a way out of the pandemic so that we, as a country, can begin the rebuild from the foundations that are already being laid.

At the time of writing, Wales had vaccinated 439,640 people. However, the actual numbers will be considerably higher than the published figure.

It is important to make the point that - in Wales - vaccination data goes through what is essentially a form of quality control to make sure it's accurate and reliable. GPs are asked to input data as soon as possible, and it is then checked and verified by the national immunisation service and Public Health Wales before it's published.

Because of this commitment to accuracy in Wales, it can be a number of days after a person receives a dose for that data to be published - so the number of people vaccinated will already be far higher than the figures we see each day.

This is different to the way the data is reported in England, which is why comparisons between each country's published figures are not straightforward. The UK Government publishes provisional 'real time' data for England the next day, which is ahead of time compared to Wales and is also subject to changes at a later date. Rather than publish provisional, inflated data, the numbers published in Wales are verified, accurate and reliable.

And, because the First Minister and Health Minister have access to the day-by-day data from the NHS, it enables them to have the confidence they have repeatedly voiced that our initial target will be met. We remain on course to offer vaccination to the first four priority groups by mid-February.

Up and down the country, someone is being vaccinated every few seconds - a dozen people will have had their first jabs since you started reading this column. The rate at which the roll-out has accelerated is something we can all be proud of, and I want to pay tribute to the magnificent efforts of our teams in Clwyd South and the length and breadth of Wales. Diolch yn fawr iawn!

• Although I am unable to hold public surgeries at present, my team and I are still here to help and I held my latest virtual surgery last Friday. If you need advice or support, please email ken.skates@senedd.wales and include your full home address and a contact number. You can also find regular updates on my Facebook page (@KenSkatesMS), and I put out weekly e-newsletters which you can subscribe by visiting www.kenskates.co.uk/en/newsletter-signup.