There is a risk of a further coronavirus surge after this summer, Wales’s deputy chief medical officer has warned.

Dr Chris Jones told a Welsh Government press conference that the situation is currently “really encouraging” despite the presence of the Kent variant.

The seven-day incidence rate in Wales has plummeted from more than 600 cases per 100,000 people in December, to 39 cases per 100,000 now.

More than 1.1 million people in the country have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, accounting for over 35% of the population.

More than 264,000 people – almost 10% of the population – have been given their second dose.

Dr Jones said the Welsh vaccination programme is “one of the most successful” in the world, with all adults due to be offered a vaccine by the end of July.

“There will not be total control of the pandemic at that point because the vaccines are not 100% effective, not everyone will have the vaccine or can have the vaccine, and for a long time until we get to July, very few people will have had both doses,” he said.

“After July, there will still be half a million children who are not vaccinated. So even once the vaccine programme has completed the rollout to all adults, there will still be a risk from coronavirus.

“The vaccine programme is increasingly important to us and provides increasing protection but it won’t be a complete level of protection and it won’t enable us to be completely free of concern.

“The virus is not going to disappear as a result of this programme.”

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Dr Jones was asked about the likelihood of a third wave of Covid-19 later in 2021, as well as the need for further full lockdown restrictions.

He replied: “We recognise that this is an extremely transmissible infection and we also realise that relaxing restrictions will increase, potentially, the risk of transmission.

“It feels like controlling this pandemic is like trying to control the speed of a car in which the accelerator is stuck to the floor and the only way you can control the speed is by applying the brake, which is what we do with lockdown measures.

“As soon as you relax your foot on the brake, the car will accelerate off again. We do know that if we relax too much too quickly, we will see a surge in cases and another wave.”

Dr Jones said the Welsh Government was “showing considerable caution” in easing restrictions and trying to assess the effects of any changes.

He added: “The vaccination programme, as I’ve indicated, is important in this but it’s not going to provide us with complete protection.

“This is still going to be a problem going forwards. We will certainly have to watch out for the risk of a further surge after the summer.

“We’ll also have to consider whether some of the social behaviours that we require – hand hygiene, social distancing, mask use – may still be needed in the autumn.”