Summary

  • Health Minister Vaughan Gething has been giving a Welsh Government update on the pandemic

  • He says all adults in Wales will have been offered a first Covid jab by 31 July subject to supplies matching targets

  • Another 13 people have died with Covid in Wales, taking the official total to 5,263, according to Public Health Wales

  • A woman whose husband died nearly a year after they were last able to hold hands says the ban on indoor care home visits is 'a form of cruelty'

  • A solicitor says she is being inundated with calls from firms asking if they can refuse to employ someone who has declined a Covid jab

Live Reporting

Nicola Bryan and Andy Roberts

  1. 150,000 more with learning disabilities to be prioritised for vaccine

    Jo Whiley and her sister FrancesShutterstock

    DJ Jo Whiley was offered a vaccine before her sister Wendy, who has a learning disability and diabetes

    All people on the learning disability register should now be prioritised for a Covid vaccine, the joint committee on vaccination has advised the UK government.

    This means an extra 150,000 people now being eligible, said Prof Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of JCVI.

    It follow sDJ Jo Whiley's plea for people such as her sister, Frances, to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.

    Whiley was offered the vaccine before her sister, who has a rare genetic syndrome and lives in residential care.

    The broadcaster's sister is recovering after being admitted to hospital with coronavirus earlier this week.

    People with a "severe or profound" learning disability in England and Wales were already in priority group six for the coronavirus vaccine, along with unpaid carers for those with disabilities and the elderly.

  2. WATCH: Banning indoor care home visits 'is cruelty'

    Covid care home: 'He was fading from me, I was his lifeline'

    A woman whose husband died nearly a year after they were last able to hold hands says the ban on indoor care home visits is "a form of cruelty".

    Lynn Parker's husband of 42 years, Alastair, died just before Christmas in a Caerphilly nursing home.

    She said he "gave up" after being unable to hold her hand, as she had been his "lifeline".

    The retired nurse, from Risca, cared for her husband for 15 years, after he was diagnosed with progressive multiple sclerosis.

    But as his illness got worse she found herself struggling to cope with him at home and, in May 2019, he moved into a care home.

    The Welsh Government said they were looking at allowing more indoor visits now the vaccine was being rolled out.

  3. LISTEN: WalesCast - The Long and Winding Roadmap

    WalesCast

    While we wait for the Welsh Government update, there's time to check out the latest edition of BBC Wales' weekly politics podcast.

    As the FM and PM release their respective plans for lifting lockdown, our political editor Felicity Evans and Politics Wales presenter James Williams look at how the approaches differ between Wales and England.

    They also chat about schools reopening with education correspondent Bethan Lewis, while political reporter Teleri Glyn Jones talks about a drive to get more young people to vote in this year’s Senedd elections.

    Plus (spoiler alert) …they discuss Boris Johnson’s rendition of a well-known Goldie Lookin’ Chain hit.

  4. Hello and welcome

    Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Wednesday's update on the pandemic from the Welsh Government.

    The main developments so far today:

    Stay with us.