All people aged 65 to 69 will receive an invitation for a vaccination by Friday, 12 March, Hywel Dda Health Board has said, as figures show that more than a quarter of Ceredigion residents have now received their first coronavirus vaccine.

In Ceredigion, 20,152 people have been vaccinated as of 17 February, meaning 27.7 per cent of the county’s population now having received the first jab, latest figures showed.

Across the Hywel Dda region, more than 91 per cent of all those aged 70 or over have been given the first vaccination, with vaccinations beginning for those aged over 65 where 41 per cent have currently received the first dose.

A Hywel Dda spokesperson said: “This week 8,834 first doses have been delivered and 2,750 second doses have been completed.

“The number of vaccines being delivered is slowing down compared to recent weeks.

“This is due to a reduction in the amount of vaccines we will receive – this is a planned and expected change in supply that will affect the whole of the UK.

“We have factored this into our plans and it will not affect people’s appointments.

“GP practices are currently inviting people in priority group five to be vaccinated, that is everyone aged 65 to 69 years.

“We aim to invite all people in this group by Friday, 12 March and start inviting people in group six no later than Monday, 15 March.

“We recognise many unpaid carers are not known to GPs or local authorities.

“We are in the process of finalising arrangements around both the identification of eligible unpaid carers for vaccine prioritisation and the operational arrangements to support this.”

Daily coronavirus figures show that Ceredigion has recorded one new case of Covid-19 today (Thursday) with Carmarthenshire recording nine and Pembrokeshire, four.

Powys has recorded 15 cases in the last 24 hours and Gwynedd, 18.

21 new deaths have been recorded across Wales today taking the total number of Covid-19 related fatalities since the pandemic began to 5,284.

Giving the daily statement, Dr Eleri Davies, incident director for the Covid-19 outbreak response at Public Health Wales, said: “Coronavirus rates have fallen in every part of Wales, but remain higher in some parts.

"We remind the public that we remain under level 4 restrictions to keep infection rates falling.

“Please stay at home, meet only the people you live with, work from home if you can, wear a face covering where required, wash your hands regularly, and stay two metres from anyone you do not live with.

“As primary school children aged three to seven years in foundation phase returned to face-to-face learning this week, we thank parents for their perseverance during the winter.

“We need your continued support to control the spread of coronavirus, so please do not send your child to school if they are unwell, even if you are not sure if they have coronavirus. Please continue to work from home if at all possible.”