That brings the final Questions to the First Minister of 2021 to a close.

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Nadolig Llawen/Merry Christmas!

Asked what action is the Welsh Government taking to improve the lives of those living with motor neurone disease, the first minister replies "the Welsh Government continues to work with the neurological conditions implementation group to improve services for all those with neurological conditions, including motor neurone disease. We are also working closely with local authorities to determine what more can be done to improve the lives of people living with this cruel disease."

He adds there are around 200 people in Wales with the condition at any one time, which means any local authority should have "a direct and personal approach to the needs of the individual".

Asked by Conservative Janet Finch-Saunders about the impact of the Omicron variant on hospitality businesses in Wales, the first minister says the Welsh Government will "consider" what financial help it might be able to give hospitality and tourism firms losing trade as news of the Omicron variant changes their customers' behaviour.

But Mark Drakeford added "we would definitely hope that the UK government would be prepared to recognise the impacts that the new variant is having more widely on those parts of the economy most directly affected".

"The news of the Omicron variant is changing people's behaviour, and there's no doubt at all that that is having an impact upon business in the hospitality industry."

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says the Welsh Government "supports plans to relax intellectual property rights so that patented vaccines can be made available to low-income countries to help mitigate pressures caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We have conveyed that view directly to the UK government as responsibility for intellectual property rights remains a reserved matter."

Giving “strong guidance” instead of changing Covid laws will be considered by the Welsh Government as they review coronavirus rules in Wales, Mark Drakeford says.

During questions from Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price, Mr Drakeford says “the approach of strong guidance is available to us, and is something we will wish to consider as a cabinet during this week.”

Mr Price also refers to the "emerging evidence... two doses of the AstraZeneca virus provides zero protection against the Omicron variant; though the same caveats apply to that evidence—a small sample, preliminary findings, et cetera. It does find that, even in the case of AstraZeneca, a booster jab would increase the level of protection to 71 per cent. Obviously, getting the booster jab for everyone by the end of the month I think is a very important goal, but is there some consideration being given in the light of this evidence to giving priority to those who received the AstraZeneca vaccination?"

The first minister says his government will follow the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) "about how we prioritise calling people forward for vaccination with the booster. There is some congruence between the JCVI list of priorities and people who got AZ in the first two rounds of vaccination. So, these things have some consistency with one another. We will work our way down the age ranges, and you get to a point in people's thirties where we were actually using Pfizer rather than AZ for most people."

The first minister also says "more can be done on ventilation" to combat the spread of the virus.

He explains, "it is a very important part of the way in which we can keep one another safe. The chief medical officer and the chief nursing officer wrote out to the health service in Wales only in the last few days relaying further advice on the hierarchy of actions that can be taken to make sure that people who work and people who are being treated in our hospitals and other closed settings of that sort are kept as safe as possible, and ventilation was one of the issues that they emphasised in the letter that they have set out."

Andrew RT Davies, leader of the Welsh Conservatives in the Senedd, quotes preliminary analysis of the omicron variant, which he says shows "that the virus variant is 29 per cent milder; that two doses of the Pfizer vaccine is 30 per cent effective at reducing transmission; and, importantly, that two doses of the Pfizer are 70 per cent effective at reducing hospitalisation."

He asks "what impact will this information have on potential plans for imposing restrictions on Friday, and ultimately averting the complete lockdown of Wales."

The first minister replies "it is encouraging in its way, but not to be relied upon as a strong basis for policy decision-making."

He adds, "there is a sense in which the issues that it reports—the severity of the illness and the extent to which it escapes the current vaccines—are second order questions.

"If the transmissibility of the virus is of the rate that we are currently seeing in Scotland and in London, then even if it is milder, and even if there is a slightly better efficacy of the vaccine, there still will be a very, very large number of people falling ill. And, a percentage of those people will fall seriously ill, and those large numbers will drive people into needing the help of the NHS."

On boosters, Mr Drakeford says that the offers that will be handed out before the end of December “will extend into the new year to the shortest possible extent”.

Technical issues in the virtual meeting lead to a temporary suspension of proceedings.

Rhys ab Owen says Cardiff Council's recycling rates are "disappointing".

First Minister Mark Drakeford replies the Labour-run council "is working hard to do more to get their recycling rates to the place where we would all want to see them."

The Welsh Government has announced it "has decided to waive the penalty for Cardiff Council in relation to the 2019 to 2020 minimum Local Authority recycling targets. In reaching this decision the Minister has taken into consideration the impact that levying a substantial financial penalty could have on Cardiff Council’s provision of the very services that need urgent improvement and investment at a time when the economic impact of the pandemic is being keenly felt by Local Authorities."

Image source, Google

Prynhawn da, welcome to our coverage of the final Questions to the First Minister of 2021.

The meeting is being held in a virtual format due to concerns about the Omicron variant.