No time for excuses

HOW rapidly the rollout of the precious Covid vaccine has run into trouble.

Grand promises were made about protecting the most vulnerable in society. Many had doubts, given the utter chaos of the flu vaccine scheme in some parts of the country.

Now we discover care homes hit by current or recent Covid outbreaks will miss out on immediate life-saving jabs.

It means that more than 3,600 elderly Scots will be excluded from the first phases of vaccination. And yet the number of Covid deaths in residential care has reached alarmingly high levels.

We also learned yesterday that people over the age of 80, at the highest risk of contracting Covid, can’t be sure they will get the vaccine soon. Nicola Sturgeon was unable to guarantee that a pledge to complete the vaccination of priority groups by the end of spring will be delivered – instead, she is only ‘hopeful’ that it will be met.

The First Minister’s rhetoric about Scotland’s great strides in the battle to contain Covid is familiar to all of us – though not always borne out by the official data.

But it’s worthless if she can’t live up to the commitments she made to ensure vaccination is well managed, and swiftly targeted at those most in need.

From the start, the SNP Government has seemed less than sure-footed as it navigates this enormous logistical challenge. Public Health Minister Joe FitzPatrick’s faltering performance at Holyrood when he was asked to explain the vaccine drive was the first sign that the initiative had got off to a bad start.

Now Miss Sturgeon appears to be preparing the ground for failure by making clear that the success of Scotland’s vaccine programme hinges on receiving adequate supplies.

Bluntly, we don’t want to hear excuses, or ambitious pledges which all too often are built on shifting sands.

We want the vaccine to be rolled out quickly and efficiently – the margin for error is small, and lives are at stake.