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First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford has been on ITV’s Good Morning Britain as well in the UK. Here’s probably his clearest summing up of why Wales has taken a different path to England over face mask rules:
The reason why we put the force of law behind our decisions is so that it is clear for everybody. There isn’t an ambiguity about it. It isn’t just strong advice, it’s what everybody has to do. And that is a way in which we can all make a contribution to keeping one another safe. A contribution for those clinically vulnerable people who, if they thought that shops were not a safe place to go, would feel excluded from them.
So we are trying to have a regime here in Wales in which everybody makes their small contribution, because those contributions add up to something much bigger. It’s why we decided that it was just simpler, clearer, for people to know it’s not simply good advice. It’s what every one of us will be required to do.
‘Is it the wrong decision to remove the law on mask wearing?’ – @susannareid100
First Minister Mark Drakeford says the UK govt is ‘the outlier’ on mask wearing and ‘it will be difficult for people in England to know exactly what is required of them’ after July 19th. pic.twitter.com/uyQtM1lqHo
The Australian government has quietly scaled down projections of how many AstraZeneca doses will be available in the coming weeks, while downplaying a huge gap between the amount being locally produced and original Covid-19 vaccine supply targets.
Last month, under significant pressure over the vaccine rollout, the federal government released a planning document estimating how many doses would be distributed over the rest of 2021.
Related: Australian government scales back supply projections for AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine
