The Welsh Government is encouraging employers to do all they can to support their workforce to get vaccinated. A new toolkit is being launched to support businesses and organisations to help their workers get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Wales has some of the best vaccination rates in the world – incredible progress has been made over the last seven months as more than three-quarters of adults have completed the two-dose course.

Vaccination has helped to weaken the link between coronavirus infections and serious illness and hospital admissions. But there is a risk that more people could fall seriously ill if rates of vaccination do not increase further as the delta variant continues to spread in Wales and the rest of the UK.

Ministers have said that it is never too late to take up the offer of vaccination in Wales. In an effort to increase vaccination rates even further, Economy Minister, Vaughan Gething and Health Minister, Eluned Morgan, are today launching a new toolkit to support employers.

It encourages them to:

• Be as flexible as possible when it’s time for staff to have a vaccine, this could include giving employees paid time off work to attend their appointments for both vaccine doses
• Use the campaign resources provided by the Welsh Government to run an awareness campaign in their organisation and provide employees with access to reliable and accurate information about the vaccine
• Share the Q&A document and expert advice videos to explain the vaccine and answer common questions employees may have
• Urge staff to be cautious about misinformation and encourage them to use trusted sources like phw.nhs.wales if they are searching for information or answers to questions about the vaccine
• Create employee vaccine champions by encouraging staff to discuss their experiences and share information with colleagues, family and friends.