Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine arrives in Highlands ahead of schedule
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THE first doses of the latest vaccine to be approved in the fight against coronavirus have arrived in the Highlands.
Supplies of the OxfordAstraZeneca vaccine arrived with NHS Highland on Tuesday – four days ahead of schedule and just as the country was coming to terms with going back into lockdown.
It is hoped the vaccination drive can now be speeded up.
Unlike the previously approved Pfizer vaccine which has to be kept at ultra-low temperatures to remain effective, the AstraZeneca alternative can be stored and transported much more easily.
A spokesman for the health board said: “NHS Highland has well developed plans, based on national guidance, for the continued rollout of our Covid vaccination programme.
“As per the guidance we have been initially targeting the key priority groups including care home residents and staff, and health and care staff who are working with Covid positive patients. This has included general practitioners.
“The first doses of AstraZeneca vaccine were estimated to be with NHS Highland on January 9, however we are pleased to say that those doses arrived on January 5 and we will proceed to expedite the use of the vaccine as a result.”
Official figures released this week showed 33,381 people in Scotland received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine in the week to December 27.
This took the total number of people to get a vaccine in Scotland since December 8 to 92,188.
Whichever vaccine people receive they are expected to require two doses for maximum effectiveness.
However, plans for people to receive both doses within 21 days have been changed. There will now be a 12-week gap between inoculations in a bid to allow more people to receive their initial dose earlier.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced yesterday that daily updates on the total number of Scots who have been vaccinated will be available on weekdays from Monday.
The Scottish Government had earlier been criticised for failing to commit to providing such updates, in contrast to the UK government.
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused them of trying to “dodge” the issue and said: “People need to be given hope.
“A breakdown each day on the vaccination figures, along with the dosages received by the Scottish Government, will show an end to the pandemic is in sight and provide much needed transparency.”
Ms Sturgeon also announced yesterday that more than half of care home residents in Scotland have now been vaccinated and that all over-80s should receive their first vaccination dose within the next four weeks.
