The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
FM ‘satisfied’ vaccine target has been met
Nicola Sturgeon is “satisfied” Scotland has hit its target to vaccinate all over-70s and the clinically vulnerable, but warned progress will slow in the coming days as some centres reduce their hours following a dip in supplies.
The first minister said everyone in the cohort should have been offered an appointment by close of business yesterday and vowed “nobody is going to be left behind” as she encouraged anyone still to be reached to contact their GP.
Yesterday was the final day for the Scottish Government to ensure everyone aged 70 and older or in the clinically vulnerable group is given a slot, and the SNP leader said she is “satisfied we have met that target”.
But she warned progress will “decline a bit” over the coming days and said health professionals are “unlikely to vaccinate more than 30,000 people a day this week” – a decline of more than half against some days last week.
Speaking at the daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said this was because of a number of factors, including a reduction in supplies and a higher-than-expected uptake of the vaccine among the earliest groups offered the jab.
Close to 100% of older care home residents and over-80s in the community have so far been given the vaccine, along with 99% of 75 to 79-year-olds.
The uptake rate for those aged 70 to 74 is already at around 85%.
Ms Sturgeon said pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has “rephased its delivery”, meaning the same number of vials will be sent out but over a different timescale.
With a higher uptake than anticipated, more stocks will also be held back for second doses.
The slowdown means some vaccination sites may move from operating seven days a week to five, or significantly reduce their opening hours at other times.
Ms Sturgeon insisted “we are not talking about closing vaccination centres” and said the programme would be ready to pick up pace again “very rapidly” as soon as further supplies become available.
“We’re going to see these issues through this programme, that’s in the nature of it, but it shouldn’t take away from the fact we are in a much better position than we thought we would be in,” she said.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross urged the Scottish Government to now work towards a route map for lockdown restrictions being eased.
He said: “Understandably specific dates set in stone are not possible because as the virus mutates it can get stronger variants, as we’ve seen over the last 10 or 11 months.
“But we need to know the triggers that will be in place for all school pupils to go back, for businesses to reopen – will we have a tiered approach or a national approach?
“These are the crucial points that businesses really need to be aware of so we can see our way out of this crisis.”
Ms Sturgeon told Friday’s briefing she is “very keen” to go ahead with plans for younger children to return to schools from February 22 but warned the date should not be seen as the time to ease other parts of lockdown.
Her Cabinet will meet today ahead of an expected announcement to the Scottish Parliament which could include an “indicative timetable” for the next groups of pupils to return to school.
Ms Sturgeon said there is evidence to suggest that suppression of the virus is “going in the right direction” but the new strain is declining at a slower rate.
She added: “What is really, really important is that that’s not then seen as a trigger for people who are currently able to work from home going back to work or parents deciding to meet up with each other more.”