NHS CALLS IN ARMY TO HALT BOOSTER SHAMBLES

SNP in chaos over vital 3rd vaccine as health chiefs beg Armed Forces for help

THE Army is being drafted in to rescue Scotland’s flagging Covid-19 booster jab campaign amid fears of a devastating fourth wave of the virus.

Health boards across the country have issued an urgent plea for military assistance to roll out the next set of vital vaccinations. Last night UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace offered his reassurance that Britain’s troops stand ready to help Scotland deliver the game-changing booster jabs and prevent an escalating health crisis. The Scottish health service’s cry for help comes as UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid promised to ramp up the booster campaign south of the Border by letting over-50s book a third

jab before they are eligible to receive it, which is six months after the second jab.

In Scotland the booster rollout has started slowly, with new figures showing that so far only 458,000 people out of 2.8 million eligible have received their booster jab – a paltry 16 per cent.

The military deployment, which could come as early as this week, follows desperate calls for help from all 11 mainland Scottish health boards to deliver Covid booster and flu jabs as quickly as possible.

Experts fear a potential rise in Covid cases alongside a high number of flu patients, soaring waiting lists and crippling staff shortages could bring the NHS to its knees this winter.

Last night one of Scotland’s biggest health boards indicated that extra support for its vaccine rollout programme had been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Mr Wallace said: ‘Our Armed Forces have again demonstrated that when support is needed across the country, they stand ready to help.

‘The transferable, professional skills which our Armed Forces personnel have consistently demonstrated throughout the pandemic continue to provide vital support for our public services.’

Patients in Scotland have seen waiting times soar during the pandemic, with thousands of non-emergency elective operations cancelled.

Last week NHS Lanarkshire cancelled some cancer procedures amid a move to ‘code black’, the highest risk level.

Soldiers have already been drafted in to drive ambulances and man Covid testing sites.

But now they are being asked to help with the booster vaccine roll-out too.

Pat Wynne, NHS Lothian’s director of community nursing, said: ‘We have requested additional support from the British Armed Forces to help bolster our resilience during this busy time for the programme.

‘NHS Lothian has successfully worked with the British Armed Forces before during the first stage of the vaccination programme, which allowed us to speed up our delivery of the lifesaving vaccine.’

A spokesman for the board said ‘it has been indicated that we will receive five personnel plus a lead’ and ‘co-ordinating this additional support’ would begin this week.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran confirmed that it too has asked the Army for help – after being forced to cancel a booster and flu vaccination clinic for 660 patients due to staff selfisolation.

The health board’s interim chief executive, Professor Hazel Borland, said: ‘As part of ongoing and fluid plans to mitigate the current pressures, we can confirm we have submitted a request for short-term military assistance to support the vaccination delivery programme, which is currently under consideration.’

NHS Lanarkshire has asked the Army for ‘15 vaccinators and three registered staff’. It said: ‘Their deployment would allow us to increase the pace of our housebound vaccinations by freeing up staff from our vaccination centres to assist the housebound team.’

NHS Highland said: ‘Rapid delivery of the vaccine programme is challenging... Extra support would be very much welcome and would allow us to plan more clinics across a wider area, vaccinating more people more quickly.’

The Scottish Government said: ‘We are still working with our military colleagues in respect of a request for military vaccinators to support the seasonal flu and Covid-19 booster campaign. It is important that due diligence on all requests for military assistance is carried out... It is not possible to discuss the number of personnel involved.’

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said: ‘Our fantastic British Armed Forces have been front and centre in communities right across Scotland from the very start of the pandemic.’

‘Freeing up staff from vaccination centres’

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to ramp up the rollout of the Covid booster jab south of the Border should embarrass the Scottish Government.

After all, Nicola Sturgeon and her colleagues in the SNP have rarely shirked from politicising the pandemic, even going so far as to make the First Minister’s handling of the crisis a central plank of their Holyrood election campaign earlier this year.

Of course, the truth is that, despite the Nationalists’ bold claims about Ms Sturgeon’s competence, the Scottish Government has made a series of blunders throughout the past 18 months, many of which – such as the decision to send infected patients from hospitals to care homes – have had devastating consequences.

With winter approaching, vaccine boosters will be key to ensuring that infection rates are kept as low as possible.

So it is reassuring to hear UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace promise that British Army personnel are ready to step in and assist with Scotland’s chaotic booster jab campaign.

So far, just 458,000 of 2.8 million Scots eligible for a booster have received one.

Having previously suggested unpaid carers and the over-50s would receive a vaccine top-up this month, the Scottish Government doesn’t expect to deliver those jabs until November.

The intervention of the British Army to assist with the booster jab rollout is just the latest example of how membership of the United Kingdom has benefited Scots during this crisis.

While Ms Sturgeon and her colleagues would gladly impoverish our country in the name of independence, the UK Government – through furlough schemes and financial support for the selfemployed – has ensured Scots have enjoyed a degree of security that simply would not have existed had the Nationalists achieved their dream of breaking up the Union.

Doctors fear a rise in Covid cases alongside a high number of flu patients, soaring waiting lists and devastating staff shortages could combine to bring the NHS to its knees this winter.

The intervention of the British Army will, quite simply, mean lives are saved.

Ms Sturgeon – in common with all populist Nationalists – is adept at ignoring the flaws in her political argument. She refuses to properly engage in discussion of the cost of independence because she simply cannot make the numbers add up.

And if the financial case for independence was weak before coronavirus struck, it has been comprehensively destroyed by the impact of the pandemic.

The SNP’s current position that a second referendum should form part of Scotland’s Covid recovery plan is utterly reckless.

Nobody can be sure when coronavirus will be under control, therefore nobody can be sure what the full impact of the pandemic on our economy is likely to be.

What we can say with certainty is that the broad shoulders of the United Kingdom have cushioned the effect of the pandemic on Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon and her hapless Health Secretary Humza Yousaf are swift to attack the Union over the slightest – usually imaginary – transgression.

Unsurprisingly, they are less keen to speak up when – as is the case now – the Union benefits Scotland.

Every serious political leader should see reacting to the pandemic as their most important duty, right now.

Instead, Ms Sturgeon and the SNP have continued to play cheap political games over the constitution.

Perhaps if the Scottish Nationalists had spent more time concentrating on coronavirus recovery and less on fabricating grievances with Westminster, there would be no need for the Armed Forces to come to Scotland’s aid.