Preseli MP Stephen Crabb has called for clarity on when Pembrokeshire will see its own Covid-19 vaccination centre open.

Currently, there are two vaccination centres operating in the Hywel Dda Health Board region, Carmarthen and Ceredigion, both of which are administering the Pfizer vaccine. Pembrokeshire currently has no vaccination centre and NHS staff are required to travel to Carmarthen to receive their vaccinations.

However, in response to concerns raised by constituents about the lack of local vaccinations, the Preseli MP has written to Hywel Dda Health Board’s Chief Executive.

Concerns have also been raised by some frontline NHS staff about the difficulties in accessing a vaccination slot through the Health Board’s website.

Stephen Crabb said: “There is understandably a high level of interest among local people about the roll-out of the vaccine.

"As we saw earlier in the year with testing, asking people to travel to Carmarthen creates a real barrier.

"I have been told that Pembrokeshire must wait until the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine gets approval before a vaccination centre will open in our County. That could be weeks away.

“It isn’t at all clear why Withybush is not deemed suitable for the Pfizer vaccine when it is being used so widely now.

"In other parts of the country we are even seeing the Pfizer vaccine administered from GP surgeries.”

Ros Jervis, Director of Public Health for Hywel Dda UHB said: “The arrival of a COVID-19 vaccine is a world-changing event, which gives us hope at the end of 2020. We are at the forefront of this historic landmark in the pandemic and we are in the process of vaccinating people from across our three counties, which is incredible given the pace of this development.

“The current Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine presents significant logistical problems around storage and transportation and security challenges. Given these limitations, and the initial limited supplies expected, all Welsh health boards have had to allocate one vaccination site which satisfied all clinical and operational requirements. This site is being used to prioritise the vaccination of people eligible in the JCVI’s priority groups 1 and 2 across all three counties.

“We also have limited supply at the moment and as we receive greater quantities of the vaccine we can open more centres to provide greater options for those invited to attend.

 “It may take a few weeks or even months before we are in a position to deliver this vaccine and additional COVID-19 vaccines once approved to more priority groups. 

“We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding while we roll out the largest vaccination programme the NHS has ever seen.”