Health chiefs defend lowest vaccine rates in Scotland

Health chiefs have defended Edinburgh’s coronavirus vaccination programme after new figures showed the city is lagging behind the rest of Scotland. According to weekly Public Health Scotland figures, compiled on Monday, January 25 and published on Wednesday, NHS Lothian has the lowest vaccination rate out of every health board in Scotland.

However, health chiefs say they are on track to have vaccinated 80 per cent of Edinburgh's over-80s population by the end of the month, with the rest of the age group set to be vaccinated by 5 February.

And they have announced that the first mass vaccination centres are preparing to go live in Lothian, starting from next week.

Across the NHS Lothian health board area, just 7.29 per cent (55,082) of residents have received their first vaccination dose.

Comparable health boards, in terms of population and density, such as Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and NHS Grampian, have achieved vaccination rates of 9.04 per cent (89,062) and 9.42 per cent (45,702) respectively.

Meanwhile, the Edinburgh City Council area is the worst local authority region in Scotland for coronavirus vaccination rates, with just 4.94 per cent (22,005) of residents receiving their first vaccination dose.

This is nearly half the Scotland-wide average of 9.14 per cent, which itself is well behind the Uk-average of 12.4 per cent.

A spokesperson for NHS Lothian yesterday said Public Health Scotland’s weekly vaccination figures do not include those given in GP surgeries and that while other health boards are relying on largescale vaccination centres, NHS Lothian is using more surgeries.

Hours later, NHS Lothian announced that centres in Edinburgh and West Lothian will begin vaccinating patients on Monday. The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) will be capable of vaccinating more than 21,000 people a week through 45 stations. Strathbrock Partnership Centre in Broxburn, West Lothian, will also open for vaccinations on Monday with six stations, capable of vaccinating 2352 people every week, before the centre moves to Pyramids Business Park on February 15, which will provide 14,280 vaccinations every week at 34 stations. A drive-through vaccination centre will follow when it is launched on February 10 at Queen Margaret University in East Lothian. It will have 16 stations and be capable of vaccinating 8,000 people a week.

Defending the vaccination rate, David Small, director of primary care transformation and vaccination programme lead, NHS Lothian said: “NHS Lothian is right on track with phase one of the vaccination programme. “During that first phase, a total of 3564 residents in care homes across Lothian have been given the vaccine. “A further 47,742 health and social care workers and care home staff have also been vaccinated, as well as over 800 hospital inpatients over the age of 80.

“GP practices continue to deliver the injections as fast as their vaccine supplies allow. “Thousands of doses of the vaccine have been distributed directly to GP practices across all four regions and they are on track to ensure that over 80 per cent of people over the age of 80 are vaccinated as a priority by January 31 with the rest of this age group completed by February 5.”

East Lothian MSP Iain Gray said: “The NHS and GPS must be supported to rectify the situation to ensure people here receive the vaccine as quickly as possible. These worrying figures have emerged at the same time as Scotland-wide concerns.”