County is one of the worst

It has been revealed that West Lothian has one of the poorest records of all 32 local authorities for vaccinations.

Despite almost one in three people in West Lothian having had their Covid-19 vaccination jabs, the county is fourth lowest among all the regions in Scotland.

Public Health Scotland announced on February 26 that they will now be releasing vaccination figures as part of their daily updates.

The latest data available as of March 1 shows that West Lothian has vaccinated 46,054 residents, 31.2 per cent of the county’s population.

The new data revealed that over 2000 more people in the county were vaccinated since Friday.

Edinburgh had the lowest figure with 27.4 per cent, Glasgow were second lowest with 27.8 per cent and Aberdeen were next with

27.9 .

Northern and rural regions like Na h-Eileanan Siar with 50.4 per cent, Dumfries and Galloway with 47 per cent and the Shetland Islands with 46.2 per cent were among the highest.

It was revealed this week that a third of Scotland’s adult population have been given a coronavirus vaccine, with more than 1.6 million jabs administered.

The First Minister said 1,634,361(Tues figures) people in Scotland had now received their first dose.

Ms Sturgeon said:“The fact that more than one and a half million people have now received the first dose of vaccination is, I think, a really significant milestone.

“We’ve now given a first dose to almost exactly one third of the adult population and that includes virtually everyone in the top-four clinical priority groups.”

West Lothian College is investing £500,000 in expanding its engineering and construction workshops to meet industry and student demand.

After a competitive tendering process, the college appointed Livingston-based company Maxi Construction to carry out the work.

The new workshop area will double the space on the college campus to deliver the practical aspects of engineering and construction courses.

These updated and expanded facilities will enable the college to deliver even higher quality vocational learning to students and apprentices.

The work includes a new deck mezzanine floor in the existing workshop, a corridor linking to the main building, a new lift for materials, and an external fire escape.

The project is being partfinanced through additional funding from the Scottish Funding Council announced last year to stimulate the local construction sector by college estates developments following the first lockdown.

Principal of West Lothian College Jackie Galbraith said:“It is great news for our students that we’ve been able to start this essential project during the pandemic. It means we can expand and improve much-needed workshop facilities so that students can benefit from them once we’re able to restart practical courses.

“In this challenging economic climate I am delighted we awarded this £500,000 contract to a local company, playing our part in supporting West Lothian’s economy.”

John Aitchison, Maxi Construction’s managing director, commented:“We are delighted to be delivering this project for West Lothian College, and working with the project team to provide valued community benefits.”

Graham Clark is the director of the college’s faculty of computing, engineering and built environment.

He added:“The expansion of our workshops and the new equipment that will be installed will allow us to deliver an extended range of courses relevant to the construction and engineering sectors. This is great news for anyone wanting to work in those industries and for companies who need people with the right skills.”

Students will be able to take advantage of the new facilities when it is safe to do so in line with the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 guidelines.