Covid: Welsh ministers criticised by dad, 81, yet to have his vaccine

Don KnightDon Knight

Don Knight has told the Welsh Government that vaccinating people "is a race"

An 81-year-old dad has called Welsh ministers "clowns" after missing their target of giving the Covid-19 vaccine to 70% of over-80s by last weekend.

Don Knight, whose scarred lungs mean he has poor breathing capacity, says he has not heard when his jab will be.

Figures show 96,830, or 52.8%, of the most vulnerable have had their first vaccine dose as Welsh Government blamed the weather for missing their target.

Wales' Health Minister Vaughan Gething said people "won't be forgotten".

He added he understood people's frustrations and said over 70s in every area of Wales would be invited for jabs by the end of the week.

'It is a race'

Mr Knight, from Llantwit Major, in the Vale of Glamorgan said he had been "stuck in the house since last March" as he had scarred lungs which led to poor breathing capacity.

"I'm furious I haven't seen my daughters for 15 months," he told BBC Radio Wales.

"My wife is going frantic because I've been waiting for this vaccine injection. And I'm sitting here with these clowns in government not getting their act together.

"What's going on in this country? England is way ahead of our government, we've had Mark Drakeford say its not a race, what the hell is the man talking about? It is a race. I'm furious."

Mr Gething responded by saying: "Don won't be forgotten."

"We've got very clear priorities so people over the age of 80, our care home residents and our front-line health and care staff are the priority in this phase of the vaccination," he added.

"Don will be hearing shortly because we're confident that we're going to make much more progress, we're confident that we're going to be inviting over 70s for vaccinations in every area of Wales before the end of the week."

He said more than 9% of the population in Wales had received a vaccine, adding: "We have the fifth best vaccination programme in the world."

What has been the reaction?

The Senedd leader of the Welsh Conservatives Andrew RT Davies said: "Sadly, they had a stuttering start here in Wales.

"All the vaccinators and the teams are working tirelessly and dedicatedly across Wales to make sure this programme is a success, but regrettably they've been led very poorly by the Welsh Labour ministers in Cardiff Bay."

Plaid Cymru's health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said he did not think "blaming snow over the weekend holds water".

"Snow did cause problems in certain areas but the problem was that you were still on 24% of over-80s in the middle of last week," he added. "There was too high a mountain to climb."

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