FOR PITY’S SAKE, GET ON WITH IT
++ Just half of Scottish vaccine stock used ++ GPs fear timetable is slipping ++ Army offer of extra help snubbed ++
FEWER than half of the million vaccines allocated to Scotland have been used amid growing anger over the slow rollout.
Senior doctors yesterday raised serious concerns about the ability to meet a target to give a first dose to everyone over the age of 70 by the middle of next month.
Their warning came amid fears it will be a ‘big ask’ to get mass vaccination centres running at ‘full steam’ in order to deliver on the pledge.
Despite this, the Mail can reveal the Scottish Government has snubbed the offer of more help from the Army.
At present, 98 soldiers are helping set up vaccination centres. Ministers have been told more stand ready, but have decided not to take up the offer.
A total of 984,000 doses of vaccine have now been allocated to Scotland, but only 437,900 Scots have been given a first dose, while a further 6,060 have received the second. In other developments yesterday:
■ The UK passed the grim milestone of more than 100,000 coronavirus deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
■ Travellers arriving in Scotland are to be forced to stay in quarantine hotels – and rules might be stricter than they are in England.
■ Fresh fears were raised about the
impact on pupils, with experts saying nearly half are not getting a satisfactory education.
■ A £20million fund was announced for students suffering ‘hardship’ because they have to pay rent despite not being at university or college. Universities will get £10million to help them cope with lost income.
As ministers faced heavy criticism for the slower vaccine rollout in Scotland, GPs raised more concerns about a shortage of supplies.
Official figures yesterday showed 95 per cent of residents in care homes for older people have received the first dose of the vaccine, as well as 83 per cent of staff.
With more than half of over-80s having now received their first dose, Dr Andrew Buist, chairman of the GP committee at the British Medical Association, said he was ‘reasonably confident’ that everyone in that age group would get a jab by the February 5 deadline.
But the promise for everyone over the age of 70 to get the first dose by the middle of next month was ‘going to be a bigger challenge’.
Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, he said: ‘Capacity of the vaccinators really needs to kick in there, and we do need the mass vaccination centres to be operating at full steam at that point because general practice cannot do this on our own.’
He added: ‘We need to get these mass vaccination centres up and running in order to meet this target of the priority groups three and four by the middle of February. That’s going to be a big ask.’
Asked to give a score out of ten for how confident he was, he said nine for over-80s, seven for the over75s and for the 70-75-year-olds he needs more evidence on supplies.
In England, 5.96million people have now received their first dose. If Scotland had the same pace of rollout, 578,367 would have been vaccinated. But the official figure stands at only 437,900.
The Scottish Government has been criticised for its delay in seeking help from the British Army.
It finally called for Military Aid to Civil Authorities (MACA), for 98 soldiers to help with setting up 11 vaccination centres earlier this month. Ministers have been told that more stand ready to help, but have refused to take up the offer.
A UK Government source said last night: ‘It’s for them to decide numbers. The Army stands ready to do more.’
There are currently 5,600 military personnel working on Covid-19 and winter operations.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said: ‘The UK armed forces have provided invaluable service throughout this pandemic, stepping up to do whatever is necessary at a moment’s notice.
‘The SNP’s vaccine rollout needs all the help it can get, so it’s inexplicable that they’re not taking up every offer of support. It beggars belief that they wouldn’t use every soldier available.’
Labour’s Shadow Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said: ‘Scotland is lagging far behind the rest of the UK in vaccinating people and the government should be using every resource available to catch up.
‘The British Army has played a crucial role throughout this pandemic and if there are more personnel ready to help with the vaccination rollout in Scotland then the SNP Government should facilitate that urgently.
‘It’s time for the SNP to acknowledge that by working together across the UK, and using all the available resources, we can get through this crisis faster.’
Asked why it had not taken up the offer, a Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We call on armed forces support as and when it is needed and are conscious of the demands on their time, given the pressures that NHS hospitals in England are under.
‘Should health boards require additional support, we will consider extending the MACA request, depending on individual requirements.’
Nadhim Zahawi, the UK’s vaccines minister, said he was ‘confident’ that there would be enough supply of the vaccine in Scotland to allow everyone over 70 to get a first dose by the middle of next month. Supplies which are allocated to Scotland are held in storage until requested by the Scottish Government. They can then arrive within 24 hours.
Pressed at Holyrood yesterday on why half a million doses have been unused, Deputy First Minister John Swinney said: ‘There are not, in our hands in Scotland, 500,000 doses of the vaccine that can be used at this present moment.
‘More vaccines have been allocated to Scotland than the number we have in our hands. Those will be drawn down as soon as the distributors are able to verify the supplies and to distribute them to us in Scotland. That is the orderly path that we are taking.’
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: ‘Scotland is around 140,000 vaccines behind where we should be, compared with the equivalent in England.
‘The programme in England is getting faster; in Scotland, it is getting slower.’
‘Needs all the help it can get’
‘Orderly path that we are taking’
ALARM bells have been sounding for weeks about the sluggish start to Scotland’s Covid vaccination drive.
Ministers remained resolutely in denial as they insisted it was going broadly to plan.
Now GPs have raised concerns that a key pledge to vaccinate all over-70s by mid-February may not be met.
That’s the assessment of the practitioners on the ground – and one that the Scottish Government can’t simply ignore.
Doctors drew attention to ‘patchy’ supplies of vaccine earlier this month, in one of the first real indications of the problems to come.
Day after day, we were assured by the First Minister that any hold-ups were caused by the prioritisation of the care sector.
But that analysis overlooks the fact that, south of the Border, community immunisation is proceeding apace while care home residents are also receiving their jabs.
The UK Government insists there will be enough vaccine doses for the SNP Government to meet its targets.
Nearly one million doses have now been allocated to Scotland – but half of them haven’t been administered.
Meanwhile, the Army has offered to continue offering support to this enormous logistical enterprise. It’s deeply disheartening, and indeed inexplicable, that this been turned down – it’s plain that the Nationalist administration needs all the help it can get.
The message to Nicola Sturgeon couldn’t be clearer: failure isn’t an option, so stop making excuses – and step up the pace.