Sturgeon: All adults to have jab by end of July
ALL adults in Scotland will get the coronavirus vaccine by the end of July – if supplies hold up.
Nicola Sturgeon yesterday pledged that the whole rollout in Scotland can be completed by the new target date.
She also brought forward a target to vaccinate all priority groups – everyone over 50 and those with underlying health conditions – from early May to the middle of April.
The UK Government revealed at the weekend that supplies are in place to allow it to complete the rollout to all adults by the end of July.
It is understood that the number of jabs available in Scotland will rise to 100,000 a day next month.
Asked if the July target in Scotland is achievable, Miss Sturgeon said: ‘Yes, if we have the supplies we think we can meet the July 31 target to do the whole population.
‘We’re waiting on updated supply forecasts to give me certainty... that we will have those supplies, or we can at this stage assume we will have those supplies, and therefore say yes, we think we have got those supplies to do that.
‘But what I’d say right now is that if we have those supplies, we will do that and we will vaccinate as quickly as possible.’
The First Minister said she had confidence in Scotland’s rollout, which she said was the highest daily rate in Europe just over a week ago, but supplies have dipped in the past week due to temporary shortages caused by manufacturer Pfizer increasing global supplies.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘We’ve shown we can really make this vaccination programme motor, but obviously the biggest constraining factor is going to be the volume of supplies.’
The current target is for people on the priority list published by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to get the first dose by early May. Miss Sturgeon said: ‘I would hope, supplies permitting, we could bring that forward to about the middle of April, as the Prime Minister indicated, and then the adult population by the end of July.
‘But we need to have that certainty in supply before we can be absolutely firm about that.’
Last week, the Mail revealed that, if the rollout returns to the pace of the last full week before the supply issues, everyone on the priority list could get the first dose by March 29.
From this week, people aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, diabetes or learning disabilities will start to be invited to get the first dose.
Figures up to yesterday morning show 1,445,488 people in Scotland have received the first dose, including 13,546 on Sunday. In addition, 1,863 people got the second dose on Sunday. Miss Sturgeon said she expects supplies to ‘ramp up again in the weeks to come’.
Virtually all people aged above 75 have now received the first dose, as well as 97 per cent of people aged 70-74 and 81 per cent of those 65-69.
On the rollout to more than one million people with underlying health conditions, Miss Sturgeon said it is the largest group so far.
She said: ‘If you do not receive a letter giving you an appointment this week or next week, I would ask you not to worry, we will get to you as quickly as possible.’
‘We need forecasts for certainty’