That brings an end to this afternoon's live page after the Welsh government set out how it plans to carry out a booster programme amid fears the Omicron variant could become the dominant variant over the winter months.

Here are some of the main points from today

• All adults to be offered a booster jab by the end of January
• Up to 200,000 people a week to be jabbed
• People will be prioritised based on their age and medical vulnerability
• People are being asked to attend their jab appointments as a priority
• There could be some reductions to planned NHS care, but GP appointments should not be affected
• Retired medics, the military and charities such as St John Ambulance could be drafted in to help

For all the latest on the Omicron variant, click here

Image source, Getty Images

Dr Richardson says bad weather in winter is the "worst enemy" of the booster vaccination roll out.

She said snow earlier this year "disrupted" some vaccines being administered and urged people to go to their appointments when they receive a date.

"So we need to aim for a really high daily vaccination total that perhaps is even more than you know what we need to do per day", she said.

"We're going to get to 1.3 million additional people over the next few weeks.

"It is a Herculean task that we are just about to undertake."

Ms Morgan said there "may be a need to reduce some planned care" to run the booster programme "but we're obviously hoping that we can keep our GP surgeries going as usual".

"What we're looking at is short, sharp bursts of activity," she said.

"Clearly that may mean re-prioritising and there is flexibility within the system to be able to respond according to the capacity available."

The Welsh government has said the roll out for boosters will prioritise age and clinical vulnerability rather than pregnant women or people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

A spokeswoman said: "Just like the rest of the UK, we are following the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). It has recommended that prioritisation is based on age or clinical vulnerability, as these remain the strongest factors linked to deaths and hospitalisations from the virus."

Studies have shown that vaccine take up among black and ethnic minority communities has been lower than white people.

More than 200,000 booster jab appointments will be offered every week as the Welsh government tries to hit a target of vaccinating all adults by the end of January.

Dr Richardson said there were enough supplies of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to make sure everyone gets a jab.

More vaccination centres would be set up, she said, including walk-in and drive-through clinics, as well as longer opening hours.

Plaid Cymru says ministers should base any decisions on new restrictions or lockdowns on emerging evidence of the seriousness of the Omicron variant.

Member of the Senedd Delyth Jewell said: "In the interim, being in a vacuum is not a good place to be, so businesses need to have clarity on whether there are going to be further restrictions."

The Welsh Conservatives have welcomed how the roll out has been planned.

The party's health spokesman Russell George said: "I’m pleased to see the minister taking up some of our suggestions with walk-in centres, drive-throughs – that’s what we suggested some weeks ago.

"The minister has turned around on this position, originally saying of course that this would be a free-for-all, so we’re pleased to see the minister really taking up some of our suggestions."

Image source, Getty Images

Pregnant women are being encouraged to get vaccinated before the Omicron variant takes hold.

Dr Richardson says intensive care admissions for unvaccinated pregnant women are "really much higher than they should be".

According to recent figures, one in six patients receiving the the most intense form of intensive care were pregnant.

Dr Richardson accepted the decision was " very difficult" and that "women are worried and concerned".

But she asked them to talk to their midwives and partners about the vaccine "because we have seen some real tragedies amongst pregnant ladies who have sadly left their families behind and succumbed to the Delta variant".

Image source, PA Media

Dr Richardson says no NHS staff will "miss out on time with their family" over Christmas , due to the extra work needed from them, "but it will not be as long perhaps as they would have liked," she said.

She said the system was "extremely stretched and so we are asking for additional help".

Retired health professionals will be asked to help, along with other charities such as St John Ambulance.

Ms Morgan went on to say: "Christmas is a time where people do like to get together - we would recommend that if people are getting together, in particular with those who are frail or vulnerable, that they should be taking a lateral flow test.

"So flow before you go is our message in terms of mixing with people."

Meanwhile, ministers are continuing to keep "a very close eye" on the situation in schools, she said.

Ms Morgan says it is now clear the Omicron variant "spreads very rapidly" and that is "clearly cause for concern".

"We don't know how sick this variant makes you,” she added.

She said hospital admission in South Africa had gone go up from about 143 to 788 In two weeks "but we don't know if that's a pattern that we would see reflected in our population".

"We don't know the extent to which vaccines will give us protection but we do think that they will give us a lot more than having no vaccine at all."

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Gill Richardson said the Delta variant "when it started, was far better curbed by two doses than one and three doses are better.

"So if people have not had any vaccine so far, they really are the most at risk.

"And if they have had some vaccines, that's fantastic, but if they can get to a stage of being fully immunised, and then having their booster they will have the best protection."

Dr Bnar Talabani, from Muslim Doctors Cymru, says the need for boosters is unsurprising as all vaccinations require them as antibodies begin to wane.

"Antibodies are what actually prevent us from catching the infection in the first place, if we come into contact with it, and providing booster vaccines just gives our immune system a top-up so that we can produce more antibodies and that will protect us against the Delta variant and that will also protect us against the Omicron variant.

"Even if some of those antibodies aren't necessarily directly beneficial against Omicron, at least some of them will be."

Ms Morgan says the Welsh government is expecting "a significant wave of Omicron to hit Wales".

She said it is expected to peak around the end of January, which is why there is "an urgency in terms of getting people vaccinated and boosters done as soon as possible".

Dr Gill Richardson says she is confident that by the end of January all eligible adults will have been offered a booster jab.

She said: "The more boosters and vaccines we can give to people over the next couple of months, the best chance we have of preventing harm as cases of Omicron rise.

"We have sufficient supply of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to do this.

"We have already started ramping up the booster programme but to ensure we can maximise protection for everyone, we expect to be offering more than 200,000 appointments every week."