WALES will change its vaccination policy to prioritise people receiving their first dose, health minister Vaughan Gething has confirmed.

Earlier on Thursday, the chief medical officers for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland released a statement advising second dose appointments would be given within 12 weeks of the initial dose, rather than as it is currently - with around two weeks between doses.

In the statement, they said: "We are all conscious that for every 1,000 people boosted with a second dose of Covid-19 vaccine in January (who will as a result gain marginally on protection from severe disease), 1,000 new people can't have substantial initial protection which is in most cases likely to raise them from 0 per cent protected to at least 70 per cent protected."

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And this evening, Mr Gething confirmed that Wales would follow the advice of the chief medical officers.

"Next week we will see the launch of the next stage of the programme and I will update members fully on our plans for deployment then," he said.

"In the meantime, I wanted to inform members of my decision to follow the advice of the four UK Chief Medical Officers to prioritise first doses, to up to 12 weeks from first dose to re-appointment.

"Second dose appointments given from tomorrow will be within 12 weeks from the first dose, which means capacity should be reappointed to first doses.

"We are following the latest scientific advice as we have throughout the pandemic. Having studied evidence on both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that we should prioritise giving as many people in at-risk groups their first dose, rather than providing two doses in as short a time as possible.

"The four CMOs agree with the JCVI that at this stage of the pandemic prioritising the first doses of vaccine for as many people as possible on the priority list will protect the greatest number of at risk people overall in the shortest possible time.

"It will ensure that more at-risk people are able to get protection from a vaccine in the coming weeks and months, reducing deaths and starting to ease pressure on our NHS.

"The JCVI’s independent advice is that this approach will maximise the benefits of both vaccines. We are acting quickly on the updated advice from the JCVI, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency and UK CMOs."