WE cannot undermine the sacrifice from NHS staff by ‘spreading rumours’, a member of the Senedd has urged.

As the vaccine rollout continues across the UK, it has been described as a ‘glimmer of hope’ during these unprecedented times and a ‘way out’ of the pandemic.

However, there are people who ‘dim that hope’ when misinformation, rumours and fake news is spread across social media.

Jack Sargeant, MS for Alyn and Deeside, said: “Throughout this crisis rumours have spread quickly often by people who are just anxious but also by people to gain advantage.

“As we have seen in America, false claims cost lives in a pandemic. It’s really important we stick to the facts.

“Visiting a vaccination centre and seeing a group of staff hard at work delivering 700 doses a day, I was angered some were attempting to claim this wasn’t happening.

“Imagine what this fake news does to the hard working staff. We cannot undermine their sacrifice by spreading rumours.

“The best way to avoid this is to stick to official sources, I am sharing information every day on my Facebook page and news organisations are doing the same.

“Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board, Public Health Wales and the Welsh and U.K. Government’s are also good sources of information. In any crisis some will seek advantage but let’s not give them the oxygen and instead unite and get Flintshire vaccinated.”

Mr Sargeant went on to say that some people may not realise they are sharing misinformation, but this increases anxiety and false claims will ‘cost lives’.

He added: "‘I have had several concerned residents contact me after hearing that England is beginning to vaccinate the over 70s group and are worried that Wales is falling behind.

"I would like to clarify that both England and Wales are still working to vaccinate the over 80s age group. As Matt Hancock announced recently England still has half of the over 80s group to vaccinate.

"Both nations are following the almost identical time scales of vaccinating all over 70 and 80s by February."

Welsh Government has urged people to stick to official information about the pandemic and about the vaccine, from official sources.

A spokesman added: “Coronavirus is real – it is an international public health crisis that has resulted in more than 2 million deaths worldwide, and sadly, this number is growing on a daily basis.

“It’s really important we all follow the advice of the highly-qualified scientific and public health experts about the measures we can all take to protect ourselves and not listen to uninformed sources.

“We are making real progress with the rollout of the vaccination programme – more than 120,000 people have had their first dose, and thousands more are being vaccinated every day.

“This week letters about our vaccination plans will arrive at every home in Wales, providing information about the rollout of the programme, how the vaccines are being made available and how everyone will be invited for an appointment.

“Vaccines give us a path out of this pandemic but we need everyone’s help. We all need to carry on taking steps to protect ourselves and our loved ones from this virus.”