Covid Scotland: Drop-in vaccine clinics for over-18s to open nationwide amid calls to speed up rollout

Drop-in Covid vaccination clinics for all over-18s are set to open across Scotland from Monday.

The Scottish Ambulance Service will operate mobile units in key areas, adding to drop in centres already available in many health boards.

It comes as the Scottish Government faces calls to speed up the vaccination rollout, after the total weekly dose count last week dropped to the lowest since March.

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First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said all adults will receive a first dose by July 18, but Scottish Labour has asked why this milestone has not been reached sooner.

Nicola Sturgeon has said all adults will have been given a first dose by July 18.Nicola Sturgeon has said all adults will have been given a first dose by July 18.
Nicola Sturgeon has said all adults will have been given a first dose by July 18.

Almost 118,000 first doses were delivered in the week to June 27. Some 223,000 doses were delivered in total, the lowest since the second week in March.

Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson Jackie Baillie accused the Scottish Government of “dragging its feet” on setting up walk-in centres and raised concerns the programme is “stalling”.

The Scottish Government has now urged all adults to get “jagged in July”.

Mobile units run by the Scottish Ambulance Service will visit key areas in Glasgow and Edinburgh, where first dose coverage is lower than other parts of the country.

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Health secretary Humza Yousaf said: “As we approach the final stages of the first Covid-19 vaccination programme, we are increasing the options available for how and when you choose to be inoculated.

“You can attend one of the drop-in clinics being run in all mainland health boards or pop into a mobile unit. You can also rearrange the location of your appointment online if, for example, it is more convenient for you to be vaccinated closer to your work than home.

“You can find out where your nearest drop-in clinics are by visiting NHS Inform, which will direct you to the latest information from your local health board.”

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Asked why the first dose vaccination programme has lagged behind that of Wales, with the milestone of 80 per cent of the population given a first dose reached more than three weeks later, Nicola Sturgeon said the programme is “going as fast as it can”.

“I can't speak for Wales and I’m sure the Welsh Government would explain the system they are using,” she told a Covid-19 media briefing on Tuesday.

"I can only speak for Scotland and I know we have been vaccinating as quickly as possible."

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