VACCINES in Wales have “weakened the link” between coronavirus and hospitalisations or deaths - but not broken it.

These were the words of Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Dr Frank Atherton, in today’s press conference about the current coronavirus situation in Wales.

He claimed that Wales is in the third wave of coronavirus, but that case rates are lower in older people; according to Dr Atherton this is likely due to the vaccination roll-out across Wales.

Despite the rise in cases this has not yet resulted in a rise of Covid-related hospitalisations in Wales.

“I don’t think we’ll ever reach a point where it [the link] is completely broken,” said Dr Atherton.

“We are still seeing some people running into harm, some younger and some older.

“We have to remember that the vaccine is not 100 per cent effective – no vaccine is, so people will still continue to experience harm to some degree as long as the virus is circulating.”

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He added that the response to dealing with coronavirus could become similar to the way Wales deals with the seasonal flu each year.

“Coronavirus brings harm every year, we need to manage it, and need to bring into play things which keep us safe,” said Dr Atherton.

“The link has not completely broken but it has certainly weakened.”