‘Significant step’ in virus fight

NHS Tayside’s Covid-19 vaccination programme continues at pace, with around 28,000 people in the first priority groups already having received their first injection.

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside this week said that this was a significant step in the response to the Covid-19 pandemic but stressed that the virus is still circulating widely in all communities across the region.

It takes two to three weeks for the vaccine to give protection but it is not yet known whether having the vaccine stops people passing on the virus.

More than 14,500 frontline health and social care staff have had a vaccination since the programme began on December 8, with a further 4500 appointments booked over the coming days.

Around 7000 care home staff and residents have also been vaccinated, with the very small number of remaining care homes scheduled for vaccination from this week.

Associate director of public health, Dr Daniel Chandler, commented: “This means that NHS Tayside is on track to offer vaccination to all in these priority groups by the end of January.

“Our vaccination teams have put in a huge amount of work and planning to get to this stage, and are also working hard to plan for the next stages of the programme.

“This will see all those aged over 65 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable invited for vaccination in stages throughout February.

“It is really encouraging to see such high uptake so far and we know that many more people are eager to get vaccinated.

“Be assured that everyone will be offered the vaccination, but we need to ensure those who are most vulnerable are vaccinated as soon as possible, so this means that our immediate focus is on frontline staff and older and atrisk members of our communities.”