FIRST minister Mark Drakeford praised the staff and volunteers involved in the vaccine rollout across Wales as more than 362,000 people have now received their first dose.

Mr Drakeford started his press conference on Friday - where he laid out the changes following the review of restrictions - by saying a "heartfelt thank you" to "that small army of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, council staff, military personnel and volunteers who have been working around the clock and in all weathers to vaccinate people" against coronavirus.

"Since the first vaccines became available last month our programme has gone from strength to strength," said Mr Drakeford.

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The first minister shared a slide showing the changing rates of vaccinations in the UK countries.

The graph showed Wales was now recording the highest number of daily vaccinations per 100,000 people of the four nations, over a seven day rolling average.

The vaccination rate in Wales compared to the other UK nations. Picture: Welsh Government.

The vaccination rate in Wales compared to the other UK nations. Picture: Welsh Government.

"As you can see on this slide the green line represents Wales and you will see just how we are getting faster and faster in vaccinating people in Wales with every day that goes by," said Mr Drakeford.

"These are the figures for the last seven days or so in Wales and the latest figures show that more than 362,000 people have now had their first dose.

"Over the last week someone has been vaccinated every five seconds in Wales.

"More than 400 GP practises are running clinics. We’ve got 34 mass vaccination centres with still more to open and 17 hospitals while providing vaccines in all parts of Wales.

"This is an incredible effort and we can be rightly proud of what our health service is achieving for us in Wales."