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Far north MP Jamie Stone welcomes army involvement in vaccine roll-out


By Jean Gunn

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Jamie Stone had called for the army to be involved in setting up vaccination centres.
Jamie Stone had called for the army to be involved in setting up vaccination centres.

MP Jamie Stone has welcomed news that the army has now been recruited to help establish 80 new Covid-19 vaccine centres in Scotland.

The news was announced on Monday but it remained unclear where the centres would be established.

Mr Stone said: "I am mightily relieved to hear that the army will now be involved and I am grateful to the Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace for having listened to my plea last week.

"What I really want to see is vaccinations being taken as near as possible to those most in need rather than people having to travel huge distances in often very poor weather. I think this is the next issue that I will raise with Ben Wallace as soon as I can."

Last week the Liberal Democrat MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross was shocked to discover the Scottish Government had not asked for help from the army and raised his concerns in the House of Commons.

He wrote to Scottish health secretary Jeane Freeman asking for a meeting with her and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as "a matter of urgency".

The Ministry of Defence have stated that 98 soldiers from the Royal Army Medical Corps and Leuchars-based Royal Scots Dragoon Guards were being deployed to identify suitable sites and aid deliveries of the vaccine.

The Scottish Government aims to vaccinate the over-80s, care home residents and staff, front-line health workers and social care workers by early February – about 560,000 people.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said people in the over-70 age group would start getting invitations for appointments "literally over the coming days".

Members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards have already helped run mobile Covid-19 testing centres in Scotland.

Related story: Call for army to help with vaccine roll out in the north


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