DELAY ALERT ON BOOSTER JAB ROLLOUT
Almost 900,000 people waiting for vaccine
SCOTLAND’S vaccine booster programme must be accelerated amid growing concerns over rising deaths among double-jabbed pensioners, SNP ministers have been warned.
A series of chaotic problems have beset the booster campaign and there are now nearly 900,000 people who have not yet received it despite getting the second dose more than six months ago.
Fears have been raised that they are being put at risk as their immunity declines.
More than 15,000 of Scotland’s most vulnerable people who have severely weakened immune systems have also still not received the vital booster dose.
The Scottish Government has also said that more double-jabbed elderly people are ending up in hospital with the virus, while deaths among pensioners have soared in recent weeks.
Opponents warned ministers they are ‘fanning the flames’ of the virus unless they speed up the booster programme, and they were urged to act now in order to avoid the threat of lockdown restrictions over the Christmas period.
Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser to the UK Health Security Agency, yesterday urged ministers to speed up the rollout of the booster across Britain – and gave a dire warning about the dangers of failing to act.
She said the booster rollout has been slower than the first phases of the vaccination programme, partly because some people think they are already protected by the two doses they have received.
Asked on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show if getting through a ‘smooth winter’ depends on getting the rollout right, she said: ‘I believe so. I think that we are seeing immune waning effects from the vaccine.
‘We know that the virus is circulating at very high levels in our community, so unless people get vaccinated we will have a long and difficult winter. The people who are dying are the same people who have died all the way through. It is particularly the older age groups, the over-70s, but also those who are clinically vulnerable and have underlying medical conditions.
‘Those are the people whose immunity will wane the most. There’s still about 5 per cent of that older age group who remain unvaccinated.’ Guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends that people receive the booster six months after their second dose.
Figures to the end of last week show that 1,769,040 people are now eligible for the booster but only 892,218 had received it.
More than 15,000 of Scotland’s most vulnerable people have still not received the booster. Public Health Scotland’s data shows that 66,343 people who are ‘severely immunosuppressed’ and at greater risk of catching infections have had both doses of vaccine but only 50,683 of them have had the booster.
Scottish Labour health spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘If action is not taken to accelerate the booster programme we risk fanning the flames of the virus. Walkin centres are winding down and doses become harder to access.’
Fears were raised some coronavirus restrictions will return over Christmas unless action is taken to ramp up the rollout.
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said: ‘Booster jags are the key to making sure that everyone has a Covid-free Christmas. It’s vital that the SNP Government gets a move on and accelerates the pace of the booster jag programme.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The vaccination programme remains on track and is continuing at considerable pace.
‘The JCVI advises that in most cases Covid-19 booster vaccination should take place six months after the second dose, therefore it would not be possible to accelerate the booster for a number of people who will not be eligible until next year.’
‘A long and difficult winter’