Booster wait time criticised
Local health chiefs are to allow people to receive their booster jab three months after their second dose - after facing criticism over the slow rollout of the change in the wake of the Omicron variant.
Fresh guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) earlier this week means that all adults will now be offered the vaccine, with the waiting time between the doses cut from six months to three months.
Following the announcement, Scotland’s chief medical officer said “urgent talks”were underway with health boards and vaccine partners on the delivery of the new advice.
But in a post on its social media pages, NHS Forth Valley urged people in the region to continue to stick to the existing 24 week guideline before booking a booster dose.
The post said:“The JCVI has recently advised that the time between second and booster doses should be reduced to 12 weeks, work is underway to implement this.
“In the meantime, please continue to book boosters no earlier than 24 weeks since your 2nd dose.”
In a tweet, Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Dean Lockhart was critical of the delay to changing the waiting time and said it could have an impact of delivering the expected targets in the booster programme ahead of Christmas.
He wrote:‘Appears that @scotgov have not updated their guidance, or NHS systems, to reflect JCVI advice.
‘We must move quickly if the booster vaccination programme is to ramp up in the run up to Christmas.’
The message comes as the latest statistics revealed that more than 70 per cent of Stirling’s over 50s have now received their vital booster jag.
The PHS data records that 27,794 people in that age group have now been given the third dose - making up 72.2 per cent of those eligible.
With over 40s now eligible to book their booster ahead of the wider rollout through the coming weeks, the vaccine statistics also show 32,019 people over the age of 18 have been booster jagged in Stirling.
It represents 41.7 per cent of the eligible population within that age group.
Across Forth Valley as a whole, exactly 70 per cent of eligible over 50s have been given their booster, equating to 88.507 people.
Meanwhile, more than 100,000 people over the age of 18 have been boostered with their third dose - with 41.7 per cent within that age group now being‘triple jagged’.
The drive for enhanced vaccine uptake follows the reporting of nine cases of the new Omicron variant - first found in Southern Africa - in Scotland, although none have been linked to ForthValley.
A spokeswoman for NHS Forth Valley said all NHS boards across the country required changes to “national clinical and legal protocols”before changing vaccination plans.
She added they had now received this guidance from the Scottish Government and the health board was aiming to have the arrangements in place by Thursday afternoon.