Vaccine shortage shuts NHS Louisa Jordan for 2 DAYS
SCOTLAND’S flagship mass vaccination centre will be closed for delivering jabs for two days this week.
Ministers warned last week there would be a slump in inoculation rates, in part due to Pfizer manufacturing delays.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman predicted the number of people being vaccinated could halve in the next few weeks.
As a result, the NHS Louisa Jordan in Glasgow has been forced to temporarily shut its vaccine programme.
Senior NHS sources have said that staff have been advised not to come into the multi-million pound field hospital on two days next week.
However, Scottish Labour health spokesman and leadership candidate Monica Lennon insisted last night that vaccinators should not be stood down ‘even for a day’.
She added: ‘SNP Ministers must reassure the public that this won’t happen, after all getting Scotland vaccinated must be our collective top priority.
‘The NHS Louisa Jordan is a vital national asset and must be used to its full potential. We can’t risk any slowing down of the vaccination programme.’ Last week, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said there would be 200,000 fewer doses available in the next few weeks.
She told Holyrood’s Covid-19 committee that supply shortages and the rollout of second doses later this month meant projections had to be changed.
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer is in the process of ramping up its global supplies, which has resulted in some short-term supply changes.
Ms Freeman said that, to manage reduced supply from this week, the number of first doses would have to reduce to between 150,000 and 200,000 – around half of the rates being achieved at the moment.
She said: ‘This supply issue affects the whole of the UK.’
Caroline Lamb, chief executive of NHS Scotland said: ‘We have a particularly tight period for the next two weeks, so the weeks commencing February 15 and February 22, our supplies are pretty low. After that we expect supplies will increase.
‘However, we then see another dip, based on current projections, towards the end of March.’ The delays do not bode well for Scotland, after it was revealed that the programme here was significantly lagging behind England.
A survey from the Office of National Statistics showed that only 17 per cent of Scots have received their first or second dose – compared to a UK average of 22 per cent and 23 per cent in England.
On Friday, Scotland administered a daily record 64,881 jags. Yet yesterday’s figures showed slightly fewer vaccinations were carried out between Friday and Saturday, at 59,817. A total of 1,173,445 people have
‘SNP Ministers must reassure public’
‘Supply issue affects the whole of the UK’
now received a first vaccination in Scotland and 14,009 have had a second.
On Friday, 1,449 people with Covid-19 were in hospital and a further 110 were in intensive care, falls of 23 and five respectively on the previous day.
Scotland recorded an additional 45 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 6,711.
Last night, a Scottish Government source confirmed that the site would be closed but that outpatient and diagnostics procedures would continue.
He added: ‘This vaccination programme is the largest logistical peacetime operation Scotland has ever seen.’