GPs left in limbo
GPs express concerns as vulnerable elderly are left in limbo
SCOTLAND’S GPs have been left in limbo over when they will receive the vital vaccine and how many doses they will get.
Doctors say they are ready to give the jabs to the most vulnerable, but have been left in the dark about the scale of the rollout.
It comes as charity bosses warned older people are feeling anxious and confused by the Scottish Government’s silence on the vaccination programme.
Age Concern said it had been contacted by elderly residents who were worried they had not received letters for appointments, despite being on the priority list.
Nicola Sturgeon made an ambitious promise that millions of jabs will be delivered in the next few months.
But family doctors have not yet received their first batches of the vital jab and do not know how many they will be given.
Dr Andrew Buist, chair of the BMA’s Scottish GP Committee, said he was aware that some practices had received some batches and were beginning to carry out vaccinations.
He added: ‘GP practices across Scotland are expected to start receiving the Oxford AZ vaccine this month. Local health boards will determine how many doses each practice gets, in line with the number of patients they are required to vaccinate.’
One GP, who did not want to be named, told the Scottish Daily Mail there were ‘no firm details’ on when exactly vaccines would arrive in his area, or how many batches would be sent.
He added: ‘ Some practices might start receiving vaccines later this week, definitely next week. We may only get a small number of doses at a time.’
Meanwhile, elderly Scots have contacted charities to find out when they will get their vaccines as cases of the virus rocket due to a highly infectious strain.
Scotland has recorded 68 more Covid-19 deaths and more than 2,000 further cases of the virus in the past 24 hours. With the nation in lockdown and members of the public urged to stay home, the latest disclosure has been branded ‘unacceptable’.
NHS Scotland took delivery of the first batches of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine over the weekend and it was administered to its first recipients on Monday morning.
But days later, despite the First Minister claiming the programme is a ‘race’ against the deadly virus, GP surgeries still await their supplies.
That is despite Nicola Sturgeon saying 2.5million doses will be given to the over-50s by May.
Brian Sloan, chief executive of Age Scotland, said last night: ‘This is an anxious time for older people as they wait to hear when they will receive the Covid vaccine. Our helpline has taken a number of calls f rom older people who are unsure of the process and feel there is a lack of information available.’
Adding to the problem is the recent U-turn on delaying the second dose from three weeks after the first dose to 12 weeks, in order to protect more people.
Mr Sloan said: ‘The decision is also causing a lot of concern and confusion among older people, especially t hose who have already received their first jab.
‘There are a lot of unanswered questions: people aren’t sure if they are protected after their first dose, and when they can expect another one. At an already worrying time, this is causing a lot of stress.’
The launch of the vaccination campaign has been mired in confusion amid shifting deadlines.
Miss Sturgeon’s May deadline for one dose came after Health Secretary Jeane Freeman told parliament on December 23 the aim was for this entire priority group to receive both doses by spring.
This also represented a shift on Miss Freeman’s claim the previous month that the entire adult population would be vaccinated with two doses by then.
On Tuesday, Miss Sturgeon said some of the ‘assumptions’ Miss Freeman used when she provided this timescale had changed in a rapidly-changing situation.
The UK Government has said it will provide daily statistics on those who have been vaccinated across the UK, citing the importance of transparency.
Nicola Sturgeon has so far not committed to such a move. At present statistics for Scotland are published weekly.
NHS Scotland National Clinical Director Professor Jason Leitch took to twitter yesterday to address the issue. He tweeted: ‘We will get to you...please be patient. Don’t call your GP, they know you’re there.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said ‘Delivery of the NHS Scotland Covid-19 vaccination programme is well under way. We are working our way at pace through the priority list devised by the independent expert Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, designed to target those at greatest risk.’
‘A lack of information’