Covid in Scotland: Daily vaccine numbers doubled in a week - BBC News
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the vaccine programme was on track after daily figures reached a new record.
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Scotland has doubled the daily number of Covid vaccines delivered in the space of a week.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said Scotland's vaccination programme was "on track" to meet its targets as he revealed the daily number of jabs had risen to 48,165 on Thursday.

That number was twice as many as was recorded a week ago.

Mr Swinney also said the positivity rate of tests carried out remained under 5% for a second day.

This is the rate the World Health Organisation (WHO) defines as being an outbreak under control.

Mr Swinney led the daily coronavirus briefing on "deadline day" for the vaccine to be completed for care home residents, healthcare workers and all over-80s.

He thanked all those involved in the vaccine rollout and said there was grounds for optimism in Friday's daily statistics.

He said the R number - or the reproduction rate - was currently between 0.7 and 0.9.

Hospital numbers had also improved, Mr Swinney said.

There are 1,794 people in hospital, a decrease of 18, with 123 people in intensive care - down four from yesterday.

However, 61 more deaths have been registered in the past 24 hours of people who tested positive in the last 28 days.

That brings the total number of deaths by that measure to 6,383.

A further 895 people have tested positive for Covid-19, which takes the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 184,313.

And by 08:30 this morning, 742,512 people had received their first dose of vaccine, including:

National clinical director Jason Leitch said vaccination of the over-80s would be completed "as far as absolutely possible by the end of today" and praised the high numbers of people accepting the invitation to have the jab.

Prof Leitch said: "If you told me we would do 92% three months ago, I would have said I thought it was complete but the take-up has been so good we want to try to get it even higher.

"I didn't think nine out of 10 over-80s would take this Covid vaccine. I think it's testament to the over-80s group, their relatives, carers and those vaccination teams."

Prof Leitch said anyone over 80 who still had not been invited should make themselves known.

He added: "If you are over 80 and you don't know when you are getting the vaccine and you want one, please get in touch with your GP."

In a vaccine statement later, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman issued further advice.

She said: "We appreciate that some people may have changed address and/or their phone number and may not have received a letter or phone call.

"If you are 80 or over or housebound and have not had a phone call or letter, you should contact your local GP.

"We are on track to make sure that those aged 70-79 and people aged 16 and over who are on the shielding list will have received their first dose of the vaccine by the middle of February - supplies permitting.

"If you are in these groups and have not received an invite for your first vaccination appointment by the end of this week, you should call the national Covid Vaccine helpline on 0800 030 8013."

During the briefing Mr Swinney said the uptake so far had been "really quite extraordinary".

He said that there would be some people who could not be vaccinated for clinical reasons, and added that others would be getting their first injection on Friday - although he said it "takes time" to get out to those elderly people who are house-bound.

But he said: "I think the performance on over-80s is tremendously reassuring, and it is indicative of the breadth and the depth of the vaccination programme around the country."

He said that expected severe weather this weekend could possibly affect the vaccination programme.

The Met Office has issued amber warnings for snow in parts of Scotland in the coming days.

The deputy first minster said that road clearing would be prioritised around vaccination centres to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum.

Mr Swinney said: "We're prioritising the clearance of roads in and around vaccination centres. That is standard practice around NHS facilities wherever there is snow or ice.

"These measures should help to ensure that people are able to meet their destinations."

If the weather prevents anyone from travelling to a vaccination appointment, they have been advised to rebook.

The deputy first minister also revealed that a community testing centre for asymptomatic people would open on Wednesday next week in Cowdenbeath, Fife.

Mr Swinney said proposals for similar centres from 19 local authorities were expected to be agreed by the end of Friday, and further agreements are due to be reached next week.

Lateral flow tests will be used at the centres, but any positive cases will be confirmed using the more sensitive PCR tests.

Mr Swinney said: "The targeted expansion of testing in these communities will help more people find out if they have Covid, even if they don't have symptoms.

"It will help them to know if they or their contacts need to self-isolate and will therefore play an important part in helping us to stop the spread of the virus."