Sturgeon: Scotland making ‘good progress’ on vaccines

A TOTAL of 1195 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Scotland, according to the latest figures.

One further death of a person who had tested positive was reported on Sunday, though low numbers are expected at weekends due to register offices being closed.

The total number of deaths under the daily measurement stands at 5705.

Of the cases reported on Sunday, the test positivity rate stood at 7.4%.

The Scottish Government said 404,038 people have now received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, up by 23,371 from the previous day.

A total of 5383 people have had their second dose.

There were 2011 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19 on January 24, with 157 in intensive care.

Asked about the coronavirus vaccine rollout on the BBC’s Andrew Marr show, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “We took a deliberate decision in line with Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice to focus initially on vaccinating older residents of care homes.”

She said that around 95% of care home residents in Scotland have been vaccinated.

The First Minister said this approach was more “resource intensive” and Scotland was now “rapidly catching up” on vaccinating over-80s in the community.

She added: “We’re all working to the same targets, overall I think we will see that we all are making good progress through this vaccination programme.”

Meanwhile, blue envelopes containing coronavirus vaccination appointments for those aged 70 to 79 will start arriving through letterboxes on Monday, the Scottish Government has said.

As the inoculation programme moves through priority groups, several health board areas are beginning to send out letters telling those in the age group when they will receive their first dose of the Covid19 jab.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman urged people to look out for the “very distinctive” envelopes, which are being given priority by Royal Mail.

A new booking system is also being used by several health boards to schedule appointments for patients in order of priority.

Greater Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Lothian are among the NHS boards which will use the system.

The Scottish Government said they are on track for all those aged 80 and over to have received their first dose of the vaccine by the end of the first week in February. This age group will not receive a blue envelope as they are being contacted by telephone or another form of letter.