The Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy – Janet Finch-Saunders MS – has expressed her concerns following remarks from the Welsh Government’s Minister for Health and Social Services on the queue for the Coronavirus booster vaccination that “We don't want to see people shivering outside in the middle of winter, as is happening in England.”
Mrs Finch-Saunders has condemned the statement as “out of touch” having consistently raised the issue of long queues in wintery weather with the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. This week, a formal reply from the Health Board was received in which a commitment was made to review social distancing measures during periods of bad weather.
Commenting on the statement, Janet said:
“These are astonishingly out of touch comments from the Health Minister which fail to recognise the realities on the ground, with a great number of elderly and vulnerable patients waiting patiently in cold and damp conditions outside to receive their booster vaccine.
“With torrid wintery and stormy weather having battered the constituency recently, and temperatures set to drop further, I have received an increasing volume of correspondence from constituents outlining their concerns about prolonged queues outside vaccination centres.
“Having written out to the Health Board on this issue, I welcome confirmation that, in bad weather, staff will look to reduce the social distancing applied within the venue from the usual 2m to 1.5m. This will ensure that more people will be provided with cover during patient waiting periods.
“With the vaccination effort set to ramp up further, it is vital that the Welsh Government looks to give health boards the tools they require to receive and see large volumes of residents regardless of the weather. At present, we are seeing an administration that is instead wholly determined to shift blame and responsibility.”
ENDS
Photo: Daniel Schludi/Unsplash
