Coronavirus in Scotland: Vaccine process will get better, vows Jason Leitch after EICC wastage complaints from staff

Issues around Covid-19 vaccine wastage at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) were “teething challenges” which have been learned from, National Clinical Director Jason Leitch has said.

He vowed that the programme will “get better” after the “little hiccup”.

It comes after the Scotsman reported concerns from vaccinators at the EICC over wasted doses of Covid-19 vaccine, as staff reported being told to discard any unused doses at the end of a shift.

Vaccine wastage reported from the EICC from Monday to Thursday was 3.7 per cent, double the national average, but below the Scottish Government planning assumption of five per cent.

The mass vaccination centre at the EICC opened its doors on Monday.

NHS Lothian has since changed its procedures.

Asked about about the issue at the coronavirus daily briefing on Friday, National Clinical Director said it had not been “systematic” across Scotland, and that steps had been taken to improve the situation.

“We’re taking every step to minimise any particular examples where we can improve the efficiency and efficacy of the programme. Those steps have been taken at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre,” he said.

“There was an issue raised internally at the EICC, dealt with very appropriately by NHS Lothian. Procedures changed - less wastage.

“That’s exactly the kind of learning you would expect to happen inside any system of this size. That conference centre for this purpose only opened four or five days ago, so there will of course be teething challenges.”

One vaccinator at the EICC said staff reacted “in uproar” when told to discard unused doses.

A retired practice nurse who preferred not to be named, he said he and fellow staff members considered the practice a “disgrace”.

Professor Leitch said the rollout will “get easier” as more vaccination centres are opened around the country and staff become more familiar with the programme.

“We've rolled this out very quickly, so therefore there are obviously going to be little hiccups along the way, but that we get better at that all the time,” he said.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats called the wastage “counterproductive and reckless”.

“We cannot afford to waste vaccine doses due to unnecessary red tape,” said Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP.

NHS Lothian said it has changed its policy in light of objections from staff, but insisted that “staff know they are not expected to discard any vaccine unnecessarily”.

“Staff raised concerns that there was still potential for waste so we have introduced a buddy system which allows staff to work in pairs and both to be accountable for their supply of vaccine. It also allows shifts to finish on time and provides greater flexibility for staff to take breaks,” said Pat Wynne, NHS Lothian Director of Nursing for Primary and Community Care.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney said at the briefing on Friday that wastage rates in Scotland have so far been “very encouraging”.

“We are obviously focusing very closely on the delivery of the vaccination programme and maximising the use of the vaccine that's available to us,” he said.

“In the plans that we sent out, we put in an assumption that there would be a level of wastage in the vaccination programme, as there would be in any mass vaccination programme.

“We obviously want to keep that to a minimum, but we put in an assumption [...] that five per cent of the vaccine was likely to be wasted.”

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