NOW 1 IN 3 SCOTS HAS BEEN GIVEN VACCINE
Sturgeon hopes rollout pace will ‘accelerate’ easing of lockdown
ONE in three Scottish adults has now received a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed yesterday.
The First Minister hailed the vaccine rollout as she said more than 1.5million people had attended mass jab centres and GP surgeries in the past few weeks.
She revealed that a third of care home residents have had their second jab, as the inoculation programme gathers pace once again after a lull.
But Miss Sturgeon said that despite this success, it was vital that the Government ‘proceeds with caution’ in the coming months over the easing of lockdown restrictions.
However, she said that as the vaccine does its work and the virus is suppressed, she hopes she can ‘accelerate’ her proposals.
Under plans unveiled by Miss Sturgeon on Tuesday, mainland Scotland will move from Level 4 to Level 3 on April 26.
Non-essential retailers and hospitality venues will remain closed until then.
The news prompted a backlash from industry representatives and opposition politicians, who voiced their frustration at the lack of detail in the plans.
The First Minister has also said that all children will return to school by the end of April.
But yesterday she signalled her timelines could be accelerated as she praised the speed of the vaccine rollout.
She told MSPs that 1,515,980 people in Scotland have now received their first dose.
Miss Sturgeon said: ‘The fact that more than one-and-a-half million people have now received the first dose of vaccination is a really significant milestone. We’ve now given a first dose to almost exactly one third of the adult population – that includes virtually everyone in the top four clinical priority groups recommended by the JCVI [Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation].’
Wales became the first UK nation to administer a first dose to the equivalent of a third of its adult population on Friday.
At that time, 31.3 per cent of Scots adults had received a jab and 32.1 per cent in England, with last Thursday’s figures for Northern Ireland at 29.4 per cent.
Miss Sturgeon said that 85 per cent of people aged 65 to 69 have received a first dose, with the Government on course to meet its target of offering a jab to everyone in this group by late next month.
First doses will be offered to everyone over 50 and those with underlying health conditions by April 15, she said.
The Government was previously criticised over fears the vaccine rollout is moving at a slower pace in Scotland than elsewhere.
But in recent weeks the opening of large mass vaccination centres has allowed for a surge in those offered the life-saving jab.
On the easing of lockdown restrictions, Miss Sturgeon said she can be ‘most confident’ about her plan for moving forward over the next six weeks.
She added: ‘That approach allows us to monitor the impact of initial changes and it means that we can accelerate the easing should the data support that.
‘We will set out more information as we are able to, over the next few weeks. For now, as vaccines do their work and as we learn more about controlling the new variant, it is vital we proceed with caution.
‘I ask people, for now, to stick with the advice and stay at home.
‘It is very difficult but it is also working. It is allowing the vaccination programme time to do its job and start to take more of the strain of suppressing the virus. I ask people to continue to stay at home and I thank them for doing so.’
The First Minister also said that there had been another 31 deaths from Covid and 769 positive tests.
It brings the death toll under this measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 7,084. Miss Sturgeon also said 200,406 people had now tested positive in Scotland, up from 199,637 the previous day. There were 967 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 51 in 24 hours, with 89 in intensive care – a drop of four.
The acceleration of the jab rollout has been aided by the Army.
At the start of this month, members of the Armed Forces began giving out jabs at the Royal Highland Centre near Edinburgh.
They were invited to staff the mass jab clinic by NHS Lothian.
Volunteer members of the Army also set up a drive-through site at Queen Margaret University near Edinburgh. Run by NHS Lothian, it is capable of vaccinating more than 5,000 people a week.
The UK Government has said the pandemic has shown the benefit of UK-wide resourcing, from using the Army to set up vaccine centres, to securing vaccines.
‘Really significant milestone’ ‘Vital we proceed with caution’