Just under four per cent of Ceredigion’s population has received a Covid-19 vaccine according to the latest figures – but a mass vaccination centre will be opened in Aberystwyth ‘in the coming weeks’.

A weekly bulletin from Hywel Dda University Health Board shows that as of Sunday, 17 January, 2,764 people in Ceredigion had received the first jab of the coronavirus vaccine, 3.8 per cent of the county’s population.

Neighbouring Carmarthenshire has vaccinated 8,730 people, 4.6 per cent of its population and Pembrokeshire has administered 5,919 vaccines, 4.7 per cent of the population.

A further 1,189 vaccines have been delivered to staff in the Hywel Dda region who do not reside in the three counties.

Since the start of the vaccination programme, 18,602 vaccines have been given. A total of 6,109 vaccinations were delivered between Monday, 10 and Sunday, 17 January (up from 4,676 delivered in the seven days previous).

Last week, GP practices have been able to share vaccine supplies received to ensure care home residents were vaccinated as quickly as possible. Up to Sunday, 25.5 per cent of care home residents have received their first dose.

Hywel Dda confirmed that all GP practices across the three counties will receive a supply of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and will work with community pharmacies to ensure the vaccine is available for patients to access easily and equitably.

A vaccination centre is to be opened in Aberystwyth next week, but this will be ‘strictly for staff groups only’, the health board has said, but a mass vaccination centre will open in the town ‘in the coming weeks’.

A breakdown of who has had the vaccine in priority groups show that 25.5 per cent (692) of care home residents have received their first jab while 38.4 per cent (1,341) of care home workers have received the vaccine.

8.8 per cent (2,001) of all those 80 or over have received the vaccine while 42 per cent (8,810) of healthcare workers have. 785 social care workers (8.1 per cent) have received the jab.

• Daily figures released this lunchtime by Public Health Wales show that Wales has recorded eight new deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities from suspected Covid-19 to 4,302.

1,106 new cases have also been recorded today with 55 in Carmarthenshire; 35 in Pembrokeshire and nine in Ceredigion.

Powys has recorded 23 new cases while Gwynedd has recorded 18.