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Is Scotland 'picking up pace' on vaccinations? | |
(3 days later) | |
The UK has embarked on the most ambitious public health campaign in NHS history - vaccinating tens of millions of adults against the potentially deadly Covid-19 virus. | |
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have all set targets to immunise the most at risk first. The common pledge is that by mid-February, all those aged 70 and over will have been offered the first of two injections. | |
So, with just one week of January left, what do we know about the vaccine rollout? | |
The latest Scottish Covid vaccination figures show 46% of people aged 80 and over have received their first dose. And the most recently published figure for England reports that 56.3% of the over-80s group have been vaccinated. However, those two percentages do not paint the most up-to-date picture. | |
While Scotland's numbers show a daily breakdown on who has had the jab, the English figures come from a weekly report. | |
This make it difficult to compare between the four UK nations, and explains why politicians often cite vaccine numbers that don't match the most recently published data. | |
When will I be vaccinated against Covid? | |
Covid in Scotland: Where are the latest cases? | |
For example, UK government Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Monday's teatime briefing that 78.7% of over-80s had received a first vaccine. | |
This is much higher than the 56.3% "official" published figure from NHS England. | |
Mr Hancock said that the UK had a better supply of the vaccines than "nearly every other country in the world" and it was a "magnificent feat" by the NHS that three quarters of all over 80s had been vaccinated. He added that "three-quarters of care homes" in England had been covered in the rollout. Mr Hancock has lauded the programme so far but he admitted that the "rate-limiting factor is supply, and supply is tight". | |
Public Health Scotland also publishes a weekly report with a full vaccination breakdown and from Monday 25 January it is also highlighting the daily statistics about the priority vaccination groups. | |
'Absolutely confident in meeting target' | |
On Monday, Ms Sturgeon said 95% of care home residents and 95% of frontline care workers had received the first of their two jabs. However, she acknowledged the lower percentage of over-80s in the community being vaccinated. | |
She explained: "I have set out many times why in focusing on care homes first we are at a slightly lower proportion of over-80s but that is picking up pace now, and I am absolutely confident in meeting the targets that we have set. | |
"So, yes I am confident and assured around the planning of this but I am not complacent about it - we continue to make sure that we are, on a daily basis, taking the decisions and supporting the wider service to get this programme administered as quickly as possible. | |
"This is the most important thing the government is doing at the moment." | |
When Scotland's vaccination programme got under way on Monday, 14 December it "very deliberately" set out to target care homes, care home workers and NHS staff. | |
The policy was designed to focus on the most vulnerable and was in line with the priority list compiled by the JCVI, which advises on vaccine rollout across the UK. | |
According to the latest figures, about 116,000 of 270,000 people in the over-80s group have been given their first dose of the vaccine. | |
This means that about 77,000 people a week will need to be vaccinated over the next two weeks to meet the 5 February target. | |
Another 474,000 people between 70 and 80 will need to be vaccinated by a week later. | Another 474,000 people between 70 and 80 will need to be vaccinated by a week later. |
Daily figures for Monday 25 January also show that England has vaccinated 12.9% of the total adult population with the first dose and Scotland has so far reached 9.4%. | |
How many over-80s have been reached? | |
Daily vaccination figures do not include a breakdown of the over-80s group across all UK nations. England provides these detailed statistics only in a weekly report. | |
The latest figures show: | The latest figures show: |
Scotland - 80 and over - 115,882 (46% of the age group) had received their first dose by Monday 25 January | |
England - 80 and over - 1,685,937 (56.3% of the age group) had received their first dose by Sunday 17 January | England - 80 and over - 1,685,937 (56.3% of the age group) had received their first dose by Sunday 17 January |
Northern Ireland - 80 and over - 39,254 (55% of the age group) received by their first dose by Thursday 21 January | |
Wales - 80 and over - 88,005 (48.1% of the age group) received by their first dose by Monday 25 January | |
Nicola Sturgeon has said Scotland is on track for all over-80s to have been offered the first dose by the end of the first week in February. | |
Who else has been vaccinated? | |
In Scotland people under 50 account for almost half of vaccinations administered up to Sunday 17 January (46.6%). | In Scotland people under 50 account for almost half of vaccinations administered up to Sunday 17 January (46.6%). |
Three-quarters of those vaccinated were are female, perhaps reflecting the make-up of the staff in the NHS and care homes. | |
As of Monday 25 January, 218,985 vaccinations have gone to health care workers and 36,108 to care home staff. | |
What other targets are there? | |
When the most at risk are vaccinated the immunisation programme will move to younger members of society. The Scottish government's vaccine deployment plan dates include: | |
By early March: | By early March: |
All those over 65 will have had a first dose | |
By early May: | By early May: |
all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality | all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality |
all those 50 years of age and over. | all those 50 years of age and over. |