Powys Teaching Health Board has announced this week that their COVID-19 vaccination programme has now reached 50,000 first doses.

Powys has delivered 56,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in total, with 5,600 of those being a second dose.

Last week the main focus for the vaccination programme included:

·Continuing the first dose vaccinations for people aged 65-69. Over 80% of people in this group have now received their vaccination. The final invitations to people in this group will land on doormats this week.

·Beginning the invitations for adults with underlying health conditions. Around 40% of people in this group have received their first dose vaccination. Invitations will continue during March.

·Putting in place arrangements for vaccination for unpaid carers. Welsh Government published its national guidance last week on eligibility for vaccination for unpaid carers. A new eligibility tool is expected later this week for unpaid carers to check if they are eligible and request an appointment.

·Continuing to deliver the second dose vaccination for people who received their first dose in the first weeks of our vaccination programme. This is in line with UK guidance that people should receive their second dose vaccination with 12 weeks of their first dose.

At a national level too, this weekend saw Wales exceed 1,000,000 vaccinations across the country.

Looking ahead to this week and next, vaccine supplies do continue to be a limiting factor, and the expected period of reduced supply is continuing. This means that the health board expect their mass vaccination centres to only deliver second dose vaccinations this week, with, whilst first dose supplies being directed to GP practice. However, it is expected the supplies to increase again during the month.

Key priorities for the fortnight ahead include:

·The final invitations will be in place for people aged 65-69. This will include a temporary two-day pop-up clinic in Ystradgynlais for first dose appointments for people aged 65-69 who have not yet received an invitation. Please do not call your GP or health board about this clinic – you will receive an invitation, and the clinic will be by appointment only.

·Invitations will continue for people with eligible underlying health conditions. In order to ensure that our vaccination programme is as efficient as possible, different age groups of people with underlying health conditions will be invited to different locations: 50-64 year olds to mass vaccination centres, 18-49 year olds to GP practice, and eligible 16-17 year olds to mass vaccination centres (note that vaccination is currently only recommended for certain 16-17 year olds with clinical conditions).

·The new online eligibility tool will be in place for unpaid carers, so that you can check your eligibility and request a vaccination.

·Planning will continue ready for invitations to begin for people aged 60-64 – before proceeding to 55-59 and 50-54 before the middle of April.

·Powys Teaching Health Board will continue with our second dose vaccinations. We expect to reach around 12,000 second doses by the end of next week.

More detailed information about the progress and next steps on each of these areas can be found in Powys Teaching Health Board’s latest COVID-19 vaccination newsletter: https://pthb.nhs.wales/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccination/covid-19-vaccination-newsletter/covid-19-vaccination-newsletter-1-march-2021-html-version/