Welsh Government plans to end COVID-19 restrictions on 28th March 2022

On Friday the First Minister published a written statement in which he announced 'If the current public health situation remains stable, we intend to remove all the remaining restrictions on 28 March'.

The Welsh Government also published its transition plan, Together for a Safer Future: Wales’ Long-term Covid-19 Transition from Pandemic to Endemic. This sets out a longer term view of how Wales will move beyond the emergency response to the pandemic and manage Covid-19 alongside other respiratory infections to continue to keep Wales safe.

The First Minister emphasised the plan's gradual, phased approach towards the long-term management of the virus under Covid Stable, including:

• Supporting people to maintain behaviours we have all become familiar with to help reduce the transmission of all respiratory infections, not just coronavirus.
• Vaccination boosters in spring for the elderly and most vulnerable adults, and a regular Covid-19 vaccination programme from the autumn.
• Test, Trace, Protect programme gradually moves away from universal and routine symptomatic and asymptomatic testing and the requirement to self-isolate, to a more targeted approach aimed at vulnerable people.
• Adaptation of public services, including, for example, using local risk assessments and outbreak control plans.
• Businesses and other employers to build on the elements of infection control they have put in place to protect staff and customers.

Advice to Ministers

The following advice and evidence was received by Ministers to aid their decision making:

• Statement by the Chief Medical Officer - COVID-19 Review: 3 March 2022
• COVID-19 Wales situational report - 25 February 2022
• Advice from the Technical Advisory Cell and Chief Scientific Advisor for Health - 21 day review - 24 February 2022

COVID-19: Current guidance

The following guidance continues to apply to people and organisations in Wales:

• Alert level 0: Summary
• Alert level 0: Frequently asked questions
• Alert level 0: Guidance for the public
• Alert level 0: Guidance for employers, businesses and organisations
• Alert Level 0: Easy Read guidance
• Face coverings: Guidance for the public

COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy for 2022

The Welsh Government has updated its COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy for 2022. The Minister for Health and Social Services has published a written statement, which highlights the startegy's main areas of focus:

• The current campaigns, including those advised by the JCVI during the last week – vaccination for five to 11-year-olds and a spring booster for the most vulnerable adults
• The most likely scenarios, which health boards have been asked to plan for throughout the remainder of 2022, including “surging” capacity should we again need to step-up our response in the event of a future pandemic wave or new variant of concern
• Plans to integrate the Covid-19 vaccination programme with existing vaccination programmes through the development of a new National Immunisation Framework for Wales.

On the 1st March the Welsh Government also updated its guidance on the COVID-19 booster. 

NHS COVID Pass

The Minister for Health and Social Services has published a written statement about the inclusion of third primary vaccines on the Covid Pass, medical exemptions for the domestic Covid Pass and a pilot scheme to recognise vaccines authorised for use in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which have been administered outside the UK.

The Welsh Government has also published guidance about getting a COVID Pass exemption.