NHS Fife bottom of the table in vaccine rollout

Fife residents are waiting longer than anyone else in Scotland to get their coronavirus jabs. Data published by Public Health Scotland has revealed the number of people who have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccination in Fife was 14.64% – the lowest rate of all the country’s health boards.

Fife is lagging behind the Scottish average of 19.09% and neighbouring NHS Tayside, which has vaccinated 22.42% of its population over the same period.

An IT glitch earlier this week caused 7,000 incorrectly booked appointments, which led to lengthy waits at clinics, many having to stand in the cold and one pensioner reportedly collapsing.

But NHS Fife has insisted “significant progress” has been made to speed up the vaccine rollout.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader and North East Fife MSP Willie Rennie said he is “greatly concerned” about the state of the vaccine programme rollout in Fife.

“This has confirmed a trend I have raised previously where we saw Fife falling lower down the table, now at the very bottom,” he said.

“The vaccine is part of the route out of this pandemic and the risk to life, the economy and our way of life.

“We need an explanation of these numbers and an assurance that there are sound plans to catch up with the rest of Scotland and the rest of the UK.

“First, elderly and vulnerable people were left out in the freezing cold for vaccine appoints that didn’t exist, and now we are the lowest in Scotland.”

The news comes as further problems were highlighted at Fife clinics due to the wintry weather of the past few days.

NHS Fife was forced to close its Randolph Wemyss clinic in Buckhaven early on Wednesday after the adverse weather led to “significant” staffing issues.

Patients were reporting waiting times of up to three hours as a result and the centre was closed with immediate effect on Wednesday evening so those still queuing could be given the jab.

Any appointments scheduled for the rest of the night are being rescheduled.

Local Labour MSP Claire Baker praised the efforts of staff at Randolph Wemyss but described the situation as “not acceptable” for them or elderly and vulnerable patients who struggle to attend appointments.

She added: “I do recognise that the severe weather has caused difficulties but constituents report that they are continuing to experience long delays, and being told that low supplies of the vaccine means they have to return home and wait for a reappointment.

“It also appears that the public communication has not been sufficient or suited to an older population.”

A spokesperson for NHS Fife said the Public Health Scotland data was based on figures from February 7 and therefore “does not reflect the significant progress made in the Covid-19 vaccination programme” this week.

“A total of 54,500 Fifers have now received their first vaccination, with the pace of the programme in Fife accelerating rapidly,” the spokesperson added.

“Our vaccinating capacity has increased substantially this week with the opening of a further five large community vaccination clinics and this has led to record numbers of local people getting vaccinated, despite significant snowfall in the kingdom over recent days.

“Importantly, our vaccinating capacity will continue to increase this week as we move fully to seven-day operations at almost all of our clinics.

“Importantly, we remain on course to meet Scottish Government directives on Covid-19 vaccinations for those aged 65 to 79.”

BRAVING THE CHILL: Residents queue up to get their Covid-19 vaccination at Templehall Community Centre in Kirkcaldy.