Covid in Scotland: Vaccination programme ramps up

The Covid vaccination programme in Scotland has moved up a gear with the Oxford Covid jab becoming available in more than 1,100 locations.

The first day of the wider community rollout will also see new daily figures for vaccinations released.

Scotland has been given an initial allocation of more than 500,000 doses to use in January.

The vaccine rollout comes as the majority of school pupils in Scotland start home learning.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine has already been administered in the Tayside, Lothian, Orkney and Highlands health board areas but this week will see it being used at vaccination centres across the whole country.

Those aged 80 or older will be among the first people in the community to get the Oxford vaccination.

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: "We have over 1,100 vaccination sites, including over 750 GP practices with a growing core of over 3,000 trained vaccinators to deliver the vaccine.

"As ever, we are dependent on the vaccine supply and we continue to explore all possible options to speed up the delivery of all vaccines and bring forward timescales where possible."

Recent figures suggest a slight fall in the average positivity rates for Covid in many parts of Scotland, but pressures on the NHS have intensified.

The number of patients in hospital in with Covid rose to new highs at the weekend, and Sunday saw a sharp increase in the number of patients requiring treatment in intensive care.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said there were few signs that the threat was "abating" and that a tightening of restrictions could not be ruled out.

The majority of Scotland's schools are closed until at least February with pupils now learning from home as the new term begins this week..

Only vulnerable pupils and the children of key workers will receive face-to-face teaching.

Local authorities said schools were better prepared to roll out digital learning than they were during the first lockdown.

But one parents' group has raised concerns about "equal and fair access to home learning".