The First Minister has said “no part of Wales will be held back” in the vaccination process following criticisms of the speed of the rollout.

Speaking to the Cambrian News this week, Mark Drakeford MS said it was the Welsh Government’s top priority to vaccinate “as many people as quickly and safely as possible”, after the vaccination programme came under criticism for lagging behind other parts of the UK.

During a press conference on 22 January, Mr Drakeford said he believed the Welsh Government to be “on track” and that “no part of Wales is being held back” in the vaccination process, amid criticisms that rural Wales does not have adequate access to a vaccine.

In terms of the speed of the vaccination programme, Mr Drakeford said: “I think we are on track, and we’re on track because of the fantastic response that we’ve had from our health care workers who, let’s not forget, are dealing with coronavirus and everything else they have to deal with and we’re now asking them to do this as well.

“As a result, we now have new mass vaccinations centres opening more rapidly in Wales than we expected.

“A new one opened in Aberystwyth on Friday, I understand. And the wonderful response from our GP community. It’s definitely every GP practice in Betsi Cadwaladr and, I think, every GP practice in Hywel Dda, who have all signed up to be part of the vaccination programme.

“The limit on us going even faster is supply of the vaccine into Wales. Once we’ve got it, we’re sharing it out as fairly as we possibly can. No part of Wales is being held back in that.”

While Mr Drakeford said there are “encouraging signs” in terms of relaxing restrictions, he added it is “unlikely the restrictions will be eased in the immediate future”.

But Mr Drakeford said the vaccination programme, the testing programme, and the fact that we’re heading into a time of year when we can meet outside where the virus doesn’t “thrive” in the same way, all provide hope for the future easing of restrictions.

The First Minister added the current plan is not to take a regional approach but a Wales-wide one in relaxing restrictions: “I think the key thing with a regional approach is that you would really have to be certain a part of Wales had separated itself from the rest of Wales, in a way that was not just temporary but was going to last into the future.

“If that happens, then our approach allows us to do that. At the moment, I don’t think that is the evidence and at the moment the plan is to do things on a Wales-wide basis. But we have the capacity, if the patterns change, to respond regionally.”

Mr Drakeford said any changes to the restrictions between now and the review on 19 February would be “marginal”, “cautious and careful”.

The next review is due later this week.