Coronavirus vaccination rollout passes one million mark in Scotland

More than one million people in Scotland have now received a dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

The milestone was reached on Wednesday as the programme reached more than a fifth of the 4.5 million people who will be offered a vaccine.

It comes following the opening of mass vaccination sites at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) and the P&J Live in Aberdeen, and other large facilities across the country.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “One million people in (Scotland) have now had a first dose of Covid vaccine.

“Thanks to teams across the country delivering the jags, and to everyone who has rolled up their sleeve.

“There’s still a way to go, but together we can beat this virus. Let’s stick with it”

Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said: “This is an important milestone in the biggest vaccination programme ever delivered in Scotland and I would like to thank everyone involved and all those who have taken up their offer of a vaccine.

“We have now given first doses to more than a million people in the groups which were prioritised to address 99% of preventable deaths associated with Covid-19.

“Scotland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is delivering ahead of our expectations.

“Our aim is to vaccinate as many people as possible with both their first and second doses as quickly as possible, but the speed at which we can do this depends on supply and we expect a dip in supplies UK-wide towards the end of this month.”

Ms Sturgeon had earlier told MSPs that 985,569 people had received their first dose as of Wednesday morning, up 57,447 from Tuesday’s figure.

She said the vaccination figure is “nothing short of extraordinary”, given the severe weather in large parts of Scotland in recent days.

Meanwhile, the National Records of Scotland (NRS) said 374 people died with coronavirus in the week to February 7.

That brings the overall death toll to 8,726.

Ms Sturgeon said 99.8% of residents in older people’s care homes have now had their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.

She added that “at least 96%” of those aged over 80 living in the community have had their initial injection, as well as 80% of those aged 75-79 and 45% of people aged 70 to 74.

Ms Sturgeon said the vaccination of 65 to 69-year-olds is now “accelerating”.

However, she also announced 50 deaths from coronavirus had been recorded in the past 24 hours, and 803 positive tests.

This brings the total number of fatalities under that measure to 6,551.

The NRS death figures include suspected and probable coronavirus infections.

Ms Sturgeon said 188,345 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 187,542 the previous day.

The daily test positivity rate is 4.8%, down from 7.2% on Tuesday.

There are 1,542 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 76 in 24 hours, and 113 patients are in intensive care – an increase of one.

Between February 1 and 7, 374 deaths were registered, according to figures from the NRS. This was a decrease of 70 on the previous week’s fatalities.

Three-quarters of deaths over February 1-7 occurred in hospital (281), while 68 took place in care homes, 22 at home or in non-institutional settings, and three in other institutions.

The majority of deaths were of people aged 75 and over (275), with 44 people aged under 65.

Since the start of the pandemic, almost all fatalities have been of people aged 45 and over, with 58 deaths of people aged between 15 and 44, and one baby under the age of one who died with the virus in December.

In the last week, there were 215 more deaths registered compared to the five-year average.