First Covid-19 vaccines given in Western Isles amid 'huge logistical challenge'

Community nurse Lynsey Mackenzie, 35, became the first person to be vaccinated on Thursday at the Western Isles Hospital in Stornoway.

Ms Mackenzie said she felt ‘privileged’ to be the first person in the Western Isles to be given the jab, administered by occupational health nurse Marion Campbell, and encouraged others to take it when offered.

“If it allows us to get back to some normality, going on holidays, going back to the mainland and allowing us to start planning things again, it’s a positive step. I really hope the majority of people will take it when they are offered,” she said.

The vaccine rollout began in the rest of Scotland on Tuesday, and authorities in the Western Isles have urged patience as delivery extends to the islands.

While the programme is to begin later in the Western Isles than in mainland areas, residents and staff in care homes may end up getting their vaccine sooner, as while in most of Scotland doses will not be sent to care homes until December 14, care home staff from Lewis and Harris will be vaccinated in Stornoway this week.

NHS Western Isles said it would deliver jabs to vaccinators and those in the first two priority groups set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in “no particular order”.

This includes staff and residents in care homes for older people, frontline health and social care workers, and long stay hospital inpatients over the age of 80.

The second person to be vaccinated in the Western Isles was Laura Copp, a member of staff at Dun Berisay Care Home in Stornoway.

The Pfizer vaccine presents a number of logistical challenges, which are exacerbated in rural and island communities.

It cannot be stored for long periods above minus 70 degrees Celcius, is delivered in large batches, and risks becoming unstable if moved too many times.

Delivery has been coordinated by health boards, with mass vaccination centres planned for urban areas, and rural areas more likely to depend on GPs and mobile units.

NHS Western Isles said delivery to the Uists and Barra would require “careful planning and coordination”.

It is expected that vaccination in these areas will begin next week.

NHS Western Isles Chief Executive, Gordon Jamieson, said: “This is an important day in the Western Isles, which we hope marks the beginning of a process to bring the pandemic to an end.

"This will be a long process over a number of months, not just because each person has to be vaccinated twice, but because of the sheer scale of our task. We would ask everyone to be patient as we work through a programme to vaccinate everyone who requires the vaccination, in priority order.”

Mr Jamieson previously said the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to the Western Isles would be a “very welcome sight”.

"While it will be a huge logistical challenge in rolling out vaccination, this is real progress in global efforts to bring an end to the pandemic,” he said.

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