Covid vaccination rollout: How is Wales leading the UK and the world?

A higher proportion of Wales' population has had a dose of a Covid vaccine than any other country with more than a million people.

It is quite the contrast with January, when questions were being asked about the sluggish start to vaccinations.

People aged 30 and 31 in England are being invited to book to have their first dose of Covid vaccine.

Meanwhile, in Wales, more than half of 18 to 29-year-olds have had at least one dose of a vaccine.

In some parts of Wales, more than two-thirds of people in this age group have been given a first dose, including Conwy county (72.1%).

Wales is also pushing on with its second doses and has set daily records over the past two days, including 20,715 second doses on Wednesday.

A total of 2,120,049 people (67.2%) have now been given a first dose of a vaccine and 1,058,464 people (33.6%) have had a second jab, according to Public Health Wales (PHW) figures.

After the slow start, Wales had caught up with England and Scotland by early February, and since 7 April it has been ahead of all the other UK nations.

The Welsh government expects all adults to have been offered a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine "over the next couple of weeks" - more than a month ahead of schedule.

Along with other UK nations, Wales had committed to offering a first dose to all over-18s by the end of July.

While the UK government has arranged supplies of vaccine, the distribution programme in Wales is the responsibility of the Welsh government and NHS Wales.

A network of vaccination centres and GP surgeries have been giving the vaccine to people in Wales since December.

While the Welsh government has not set a new date for when all adults will have been offered a first dose, a spokesperson confirmed the original target of 31 July would now be met in June.

One Welsh health board covering the capital city has already offered first vaccination appointments to all adults.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has begun offering walk-in appointments at the Bayside vaccination centre in Cardiff Bay.

Lorna Bennett, a consultant in public health for the health board, said she hoped the walk-in centre would help reach "several thousand people" who had not yet come forward for the first dose of a vaccine.

Among those who chose to turn up at the Bayside vaccination centre on Thursday was Cardiff student Matthew.

He hoped that receiving the jab would make it safer to play competitive sport and socialise.

"Being a university student, and I play hockey, so being able to have the vaccine and being able to spend my time around my mates knowing I am more secure - especially once I get the second dose in the future - that was so important," he said.

"We can get back to normality, playing fixtures, doing all those sorts of things."

Despite the encouraging rollout among younger people, almost a quarter of 18 to 39-year-olds did not turn up to get their jab at a mass vaccination centre in north Wales on Sunday, a GP said.

Of the 1,044 booked to get a vaccine at the Royal British Legion in Llay, Wrexham, 219 did not attend and 32 cancelled, according to John Williams, practice manager at Alyn Family Doctors in Wrexham.

He urged young people to get a vaccine, adding only between 2% and 3% in the over-50s age group had been no-shows.

Mr Williams said: "I think there's some vaccine anxiety in the media and that doesn't help things.

"We'd like to encourage people - the vaccines are safe, it's very important for them to attend, we're giving Pfizer following national guidance."

Those under 40 in Wales will no longer receive first doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca due to links with rare blood clots.

Peter Collin, the practice's lead GP for the vaccination programme, added: "As we are now vaccinating the younger age groups - those 18 to 39 - we are finding that the number of patients not attending allocated appointments has increased.

"It is very important that patients receive two doses of vaccination to give themselves, and others around them, the best protection from the virus."

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales, PHW's Gill Richardson said getting vaccinated was not just about protecting yourself, but others too.

She said: "There's some people that even though they have had the jab, perhaps their immune system is just very weak and they don't mount a good response, so the fact the rest of us are having it protects them eventually, and it just makes sure we're in the best position possible to face any new variants that come in."

Dr Richardson said it was likely vulnerable groups and key workers would receive a booster jab in the autumn, but that would depend on what the Joint Commission on Vaccination and Immunisation recommends.