ONLY ONE IN FOUR JABS IS USED

UK ‘sent 500k doses’ – but just 113,459 Scots have had vaccine

ONLY around one in four of the coronavirus jabs supplied to the Scottish Government has been used.

An estimated 500,000 doses have already been delivered to Scotland by the UK Government, but Scottish Government figures show only 113,459 people had been given the jab up to the start of last week.

It came amid concerns that Scotland is ‘behind the curve’ on the vaccine rollout.

Writing in today’s Mail, Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, highlights that SNP ministers have been given ‘considerably more’ vaccines than have been used.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock yesterday revealed that around two million people have been vaccinated. He said 200,000 a day are getting the jab and one in three people over the age of 80 has been vaccinated already.

Until now, the Scottish Government has focused on giving the jab to health workers and care home staff and residents. The mass community rollout to other priority groups will only be stepped up from today, when 1,100 community vaccination sites will become operational.

It is estimated that 500,000 doses have been delivered to Scotland, mostly the Pfizer jab, which was the first to get approval.

The Scottish Government has also confirmed that 533,640 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine will be delivered this month.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Donald Cameron said: ‘ Already we’ve heard concerns the SNP are falling behind the curve. That’s not good enough and it’s up to the First Minister and Health Secretary to explain why that’s the case.

‘It was only after sustained pressure from the Scottish Tories that the SNP finally agreed to publish daily vaccination figures. Now they must urgently publish the timetable for this next significant phase of the vaccination programme.’

After media reports that UK Government sources had raised concerns about Scotland being ‘behind the curve’, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman responded angrily on social media, saying: ‘ This i s deeply disappointing. Covid-19 is not a political game.

‘To date we’ve vaccinated more proportionately than England and we’ll go as fast as supplies allow. My focus is getting the job done, not political point scoring – that doesn’t save lives.’

Miss Freeman is due to update MSPs on the progress of the programme on Wednesday.

Announcing the next phase of the rollout yesterday, she said: ‘The delivery of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is a major development for the biggest vaccination programme we have ever delivered. We have over 1,100 vaccination sites, including over 750 GP practices with a growing core of over 3,000 trained vaccinators.

‘As ever, we are dependent on the vaccine supply and we continue to explore all possible options to speed up the delivery of all vaccines and bring forward timescales where possible. This work, alongside our expanded testing strategy, rigorously complying with restrictions where we live and adhering to the public health guidance, is essential to protect those most at risk and minimise further impact on the NHS.’

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: ‘The UK Government has procured and paid for millions of vaccine doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for people in all parts of the UK.

‘The Scottish Government and NHS Scotland need to get that supply of jabs into as many people’s arms as soon as possible.’

The Scottish Government will publish daily figures on the number

of people vaccinated from today. A spokesman said: ‘The vaccination programme is the largest logistical peacetime operation Scotland has ever seen and is functioning well.

‘We have already vaccinated a higher percentage of our population than most other countries worldwide, with the programme for vaccinating care home residents now well over half way through. From December 8, 2020, to January 3, 2021, 113,459 individuals received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. Scotland has an allocation of 533,640 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in January.

‘These doses are available for local order and delivery to the different parts of Scotland over January.’