How has the Covid vaccine changed pandemic in Wales and UK?

Margaret Keenan, then 90, made history at University Hospital Coventry on December 8, 2020, becoming the first person in the UK to receive a jab, and launching the world's first Covid-19 national vaccination programme.

That same day, Gwent's own jab programme kicked off at Cwmbran Stadium, where health workers, care home staff and people in high-risk groups were called to the region's first vaccination centre.

The UK was the first nation to approve the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, and the eyes of the world were on us in the early days of the jab rollout.

The launch of the scheme also offered a glimmer of hope during a bleak few months last year – much of Wales had been through weeks of local lockdown restrictions, followed by a nationwide 'fire break' – and high numbers of Covid cases were putting the NHS under extreme pressure.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (ABUHB) staff at the opening of Gwent's first Covid vaccination centre, in Cwmbran. Picture: ABUHB

Increasingly strict measures were also splitting opinion among the public. The Welsh Government's ban on the sale of non-essential items in shops had caused confusion, and on December 4 Mark Drakeford's new booze ban and curfew came into effect, ordering pubs to stop selling alcohol and to close early.

The UK had banked on the development of a vaccine as being the best route out of the pandemic, and had ordered millions of doses. Looking back, one year on, December 8 marked the beginning of a more optimistic time, although it would take several more months of stringent lockdown measures before the wider effects of the vaccine programme began to be felt.

And there were early bumps in the road, too. Wales lagged behind in the early weeks of the rollout, with concerns raised about an unequal distribution of doses across the nation, and snowstorms in late January forcing several vaccination centres to close temporarily.

The first minister raised a few eyebrows that month, when he said the vaccine rollout was "not a sprint and neither is it a competition". But gradually, the Welsh system moved through the gears and began smashing ambitious targets to vaccinate people according to the JCVI's priority group list.

By March 9, one million first doses had been given out, and on April 13 Wales became the first UK nation to jab half its population, and milestones continued to be hit throughout the summer.

Care home worker Jiji Joseph prepares to receive his Covid-19 vaccination at the new Covid vaccine centre in Cwmbran, December 8, 2020.

To date, some 2.27 million people in Wales have received both of their initial vaccinations, and the number of booster jabs – top-up third doses rolled out since the autumn to maintain immunity – is nearing the one million mark.

Health minister Eluned Morgan this week said Wales will offer a booster jab to all eligible adults by January, and a new recruitment drive has been launched to help meet the expected rise in demand. Time is of the essence, she said, given the arrival of the Omicron variant here.

A Welsh Government slide giving the latest vaccination uptake rates by priority group.

Reflecting on a year of the vaccine rollout, she thanked everyone who had played a part in what has been "truly an incredible achievement".

With that success, the link between Covid infection and falling seriously ill has been "weakened". Yes, it is still possible to catch coronavirus after being vaccinated, but the risk of being hospitalised, or dying, is considerably smaller.

Those benefits mean many of the more onerous lockdown restrictions have not been reimposed to date, and the outlook on December 8 this year is considerably more optimistic than it was 12 months ago.