Over 80s to be vaccinated by end of January

Every person in Scotland over the age of 80 will receive their first dose of the coronavirus vaccination by the end of January, the Scottish Government has said.

In addition, older residents in care homes, their carers and frontline health and care workers will also be vaccinated by the end of the month.

Latest figures show that more than 113,000 people had received their first dose of the vaccination by the end of last week.

Up to the end January 3, 113,459 people in Scotland had been vaccinated, with the programme for vaccinating care home residents now well over half way through.

Since deliveries of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine started this week, GP surgeries have already started delivering vaccine in some parts of Scotland and full primary care roll-out is planned from Monday.

It is predicted that by early May, everyone over 50 and those with underlying health conditions will have received their first dose.

This will mean everyone on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list – more than 2.5 million people in Scotland – will have received vaccinations.

Once everyone on the JCVI list has been vaccinated, the rest of the population will start receiving their invitations.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith said: “Today’s figures show good progress, but now that we have access to the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine that will increase rapidly.

“If you are aged over 80 and have not yet been invited to your vaccine, please be reassured – you will be invited in due course.

“We are following the prioritisation list recommended by the experts at the JCVI. That means vaccinating the people at most risk from COVID-19 first.

“After updated guidance, we are ensuring that as many people as possible in the priority groups get their first dose as soon as possible. However, it is really important to stress that everyone will get a second dose within 12 weeks.

“We have over 1,100 vaccination sites including over 750 GP practices involved in the delivery of this vaccine and a growing core of over 3000 trained vaccinators to deliver the vaccine, including dentists, GPs, pharmacists and optometrists.

“This is the biggest logistical challenge in the history of Scotland’s NHS but there is a huge effort from our health and social care staff right across Scotland to make sure it is a success. I thank each and every one of them.

“Everyone can play their part in delaying the spread of the virus further by staying at home and staying safe.”