Covid vaccine: Welsh health board offers all over-18s vaccine by 30 May

The target date nationally to complete first doses of vaccine is the end of July

All over-18s in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan will have been offered the chance to have their first Covid vaccine by the end of May, the health board said.

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board tweeted it had arranged appointments for all adults by then.

It is two months ahead of the Welsh government's target of the end of July.

The board said letters should be received by the end of the week, and asked anyone missed to contact them.

The board also said people would receive second doses 11 weeks after their first, whether it was Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, and would be sent letters with the date.

A spokesperson from the health board said: "Our vaccination programme has moved at pace, which is a huge testament to the work of our vaccination team.

They said coronavirus had "not gone away", adding: "If you are offered your vaccine please attend as it is the best way to protect yourself, your family and the local community."

On Friday, figures showed almost half of those aged under 30 had received first doses in some health board areas, with 46% of that group vaccinated in Cardiff and Vale and 44% in north Wales' Betsi Cadwaladr health board.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Hywel Dda health board, which covers Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion, was asking any over-25s in its area who had not received a first dose to get in touch using an online request form.

Drop-in centre

Powys health board told BBC Wales it had issued invitations to everyone over 30 and had nearly finished inviting all those aged 18-29, adding anyone who had not received an invitation could register on its website.

Swansea Bay health board said it would be sending out invites to 18-29 year-olds in late May and early June for vaccination in the middle to the end of June.

Meanwhile on Monday Betsi Cadwaladr health board invited people aged over 40 in Anglesey and Gwynedd who did not already have an appointments to come along to a drop-in vaccination centre.

Wales passed the two-million mark for vaccinations this weekend.

• Young people 'coming in droves' for first jab

• Wales hits milestone as two million get Covid jab

To date in Wales, 2,035,905 people have received a first dose and 927,215 have had a second according to the latest figures from Public Health Wales.

In the 18-29 age group nationally, 197,095 people have had a first jab, which represents 42% of the total in that category.