Sturgeon praises ‘heroic’ vaccine effort

Nicola Sturgeon has hailed the “heroic achievement” of hardy Scots who braved ice and snow to set a new daily vaccination record on the same day coronavirus hospitalisations fell to below the spring peak.

The first minister confirmed more than 63,000 people had received the jab over the previous 24 hours, meaning around 23% of the population – including some of the most vulnerable – have now been vaccinated against the deadly virus.

Speaking during the daily Covid-19 briefing yesterday, Ms Sturgeon said 1,499 people were in hospital with the virus – down 43 in 24 hours.

It is the lowest figure since January 7 and below the spring peak of confirmed cases in hospital of 1,520, recorded on April 19 and 20.

The R number – or how many people each infected person passes the virus on to – is below one.

“Significantly, that means that the number of Covid patients in hospital is now back below the peak of last spring, which is another wee ray of sunshine for us to feel positive about today,” Ms Sturgeon said.

“That is reflected in the decline in case numbers, in test positivity – the 4% test positivity we’ve reported today is the lowest in quite some time.

“The rays of sunshine that I spoke about last week undoubtedly are a wee bit brighter this week.”

But she stressed the situation is still “precarious”, as she revealed 48 deaths of people with coronavirus had been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of fatalities under that measure to 6,599.