Mass vaccination centres in Newtown, Llanelwedd and Bronllys are closed today (Saturday) to avoid the poor weather.

Powys Teaching Health Board said the decision was made to keep patients and staff safe.

People with a Covid-19 vaccine appointment booked for today were asked to attend a mass vaccination centre on Friday.

The health board said: "The Pfizer vaccine that we use in our mass vaccination centres comes in trays of 1,000 doses that must be used in four days once they are opened.

"So we normally operate our mass vaccination centres over four days, beginning on a Wednesday and ending on a Saturday.

"The forecast for today was for snow and travel disruption - and it’s coming down heavily in some parts of the county. If we’d needed to make a sudden decision to close on safety grounds, overnight or this morning, and all the Pfizer vaccine had not been used - then it would have gone to waste.

"Instead, we made a very practical decision to make sure no drop was wasted by using all of our Pfizer vaccine yesterday. Because of this decision all our Pfizer supplies have been used this week, so our vaccination centres are closed today and will re-open for our next round of supplies next week.

"Our team worked hard to contact people who were booked for today, and in many cases the appointments could be rearranged to yesterday. If you know anyone who hasn’t heard then they can use the contact details in their booking letter to arrange a new date as soon as possible (there has been a big expansion in phone lines this week).

"There was also a great response from people in the Newtown area to come at late notice to help ensure every drop of vaccine was used and none was wasted: a great credit to the wonderful people of Powys."