PEOPLE who have not yet had their Covid vaccine are being urged to come forward and accept the invitation.

The plea from the Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board comes after call centre staff made contact with 1,513 people to offer them appointments, and just 111 accepted.

Gill Harris, Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery, said: "We recently celebrated reaching the incredible milestone of more than one million vaccinations being delivered to people living or working in North Wales.

"This has had a significant impact on protecting people against COVID-19. We know that far fewer people are dying with COVID-19 or requiring hospital treatment for the virus, compared to the first and second waves.

"There are still people, however, who have not yet had a vaccination and we are still making every effort to encourage them to do so. We have already contacted everyone in North Wales to invite them to be vaccinated and continue to do so.

"While we know there will be people who simply do not want the vaccine in these remaining pockets of the population, but we will continue to encourage them to do so as we prepare to move on to the next phase of the programme.

"We would like to repeat out appeal for everyone who is eligible to come forward and get vaccinated."

More information about who is eligible to receive the vaccine and how to book an appointment can be found on the website.

COVID-19 vaccine booster programme

Gill Harris added: "We are still waiting for final advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the scope of the COVID-19 booster programme. When we get this we will need to make final preparations before inviting people to an appointment.

"We would ask those who are eligible for the booster vaccine to be patient and remember there is no need to contact us to book an appointment, as we will contact you directly when it is your turn."

Delivery of COVID-19 booster and Flu vaccinations

Due to the way in which the COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations are delivered and the expected start dates for the respective campaigns, it will not be standard practice to give people these jabs at the same time.

More information will be shared about both the booster programme and the Flu vaccination campaign once they have been developed.