Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire’s Labour candidate for the Welsh Parliamentary elections on May 6, Riaz Hassan has said that the past couple of weeks have been ‘truly inspiring’ - with sports, leisure and community venues opening their doors to Covid vaccination sessions, and some local GP surgeries racking up over 1,000 vaccine injections in one day.

“Many people receiving the vaccine have spoken to me about their own relief, but also about the incredible energy and positivity of the staff and volunteers involved in the rollout,” said Riaz said.

“The past eleven months have been hard. The Welsh Government has thrown everything at the virus because it simply had no choice. Driving down infection to stop the country being overwhelmed has been the top priority.

“It still is. But now we can begin to look to the future. First Minister Mark Drakeford has said we can look at lifting some restrictions around Easter time.

“This will be vital to our tourism and hospitality industry and for the wellbeing of the people who live here.

“We can start to use that same headroom to tackle the waiting lists which have grown in some clinical specialities, and which have caused hardship and heartbreak to so many people.

“The overall NHS Wales workforce has grown by almost 12 per cent over the last five years, and since 2015-16 health spending per person in Wales has grown by 20 per cent compared with 15 per cent in England.

“Those headline figures really do matter because they mean we have the capacity to move forward.

“I know Welsh Labour Government plans include using the headroom given by reduced infection rates to ramp up procedures and appointments to tackle the backlog, and as an elected member of the Senedd I will make that an absolute priority.”

Riaz whose current job as a community cohesion manager across several Welsh counties gives him unique, practical experience in bringing different groups and communities together, continued: “We are starting to see a way through the pandemic, with the astonishing rollout of the vaccination programme and the magnificent efforts of the Welsh public and our key workers.

“We will never forget this time in our lives and I am determined to play my part in building our country back with hope and positivity,” he added.