Boris Johnson visits Cwmbran vaccination centre

Mr Johnson visited the centre in Cwmbran this morning to see the progress of the vaccine rollout in Wales.

Boris Johnson disinfects a chair in the public waiting area during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson disinfects a chair in the public waiting area during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson speaks with health workers during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Members of the public receive a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium in Cwmbran. Picture: PA

Mr Johnson said the UK Government would continue to have conversations with devolved administrations about how best to exit lockdown.

Asked whether the four UK nations should ease their restrictions in unison, the prime minister said: “We have continuous conversations with Mark Drakeford, with other representatives of devolved administrations, about how to do it, just as we work on the vaccination programme together.

“We try and make sure we concert our approach and our general messages.”

Boris Johnson speaks with health workers Liz Hallett (left) and Wendy Warren during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Prime minister Boris Johnson speaks with a member of public as they wait to receive an Oxford/Astra Zeneca Covid-19 injection as he visits a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

The prime minister speaks with health worker Wendy Warren during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Mr Johnson also praised the “outstanding” vaccination rollout across the UK and expressed his hope that it was driving down coronavirus infection rates.

He said: “I think that across the whole of the UK there has been an outstanding vaccination performance.

“I think it’s 46,000 they’ve done in this centre, a really outstanding achievement.

“I think, as the song goes, ‘I’ve been all around the world and then Japan, I’ve never found a place for vaccines like Cwmbran’. How about that?”

He added: “I think that, overall, if you look at the infection rates across the UK, they are coming down a bit now. That’s very encouraging.

“I think one of the big questions people will want to ask is to what extent now is that being driven by vaccination. We hope it is, there are some encouraging signs, but it’s still early days.”

Speaking during the visit the prime minister said the easing of the lockdown in England would be based on a “cautious and prudent approach”.

Decisions regarding the lockdown in Wales are the responsibility of the Welsh Government.

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Boris Johnson speaks with health workers during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson greets health worker Liz Hallett (left) during a visit to a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson greets senior nurse Amanda Whent during a visit to a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson speaks with health worker Wendy Warren as he puts on a pair of medical gloves during a visit to a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson speaks with health worker Wendy Warren as he puts on a pair of medical gloves during a visit to a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Prime minister Boris Johnson holding a vial of the Oxford/Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine as he visits a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Mr Johnson was responding to whether he agreed with Professor Dame Angela McLean’s comments to the Science and Technology Committee that any unlocking should be based on “data, not dates”.

“I do think that’s absolutely right," he said. “That’s why we’ll be setting out what we can on Monday about the way ahead and it’ll be based firmly on a cautious and prudent approach to coming out of lockdown in such a way to be irreversible.

“We want to be going one way from now on, based on the incredible vaccination rollout that you’re seeing in Cwmbran.”

Prime minister Boris Johnson greets nurse Louise Gray during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Prime minister Boris Johnson greets health worker Nicky Parfitt during a visit to a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Members of the public receive a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Boris Johnson said easing England’s restrictions would be done in “stages” and noted that reopening of hospitality was one of the last things to return after the first lockdown.

The prime minister said: “I certainly think that we need to go in stages. We need to go cautiously.

“You have to remember from last year that we opened up hospitality fully as one of the last things that we did because there is obviously an extra risk of transmission from hospitality.

Members of the public receive a dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine at a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Prime minister Boris Johnson speaks with a member of public as they wait to receive an Oxford/Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine as he visits a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

Prime minister Boris Johnson speaks with a member of public as they wait to receive an Oxford/Astra Zeneca Covid-19 vaccine as he visits a vaccination centre at Cwmbran Stadium. Picture: PA

“I know there’s a lot of understandable speculation in the papers and people coming up with theories about what we’re going to do, what we’re going to say, and about the rates of infection, and so on.

“I would just advise everybody just wait, we’ll try and say as much as we can on that.”