Nicola Sturgeon to get Covid-19 vaccine in mid April

The First Minister said she “can’t wait” for the jag, and admitted her husband, 56-year-old SNP chief executive Peter Murrell, had begun to wonder at the delay to his blue envelope before it arrived on March 26.

Mr Murrell is set to receive his vaccination on the day before Ms Sturgeon in mid April.

The First Minister, 50, is set to be among the last to receive a vaccine before the Scottish Government deadline of mid April for delivery of a first dose to all over 50s and others in high priority groups.

Scotland's First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Nicola Sturgeon at Ruchill Park in Glasgow during campaigning for the Scottish Parliamentary election. Picture date: Saturday April 3, 2021.

She told the PA news agency: “It’s middle of April it’s due. I can’t wait.”

She had been waiting for the letter to arrive, she said, as she was aware that her local health board, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, had started sending out letters to those aged over 50.

Ms Sturgeon said her husband had been waiting with even more expectation.

She said: “Peter is a few years older than me, so I expected his to come before mine. He was getting very ‘where’s my blue envelope’,” she said.

“They actually came on the same day, and he gets his [vaccine] a day before me, at a different vaccination centre. Obviously I am in a younger cohort, which is why I am going somewhere else.”

Ms Sturgeon added that the vaccination campaign was “going well” in all four nations of the UK, with a high take-up rate for the jabs.

It comes after leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Willie Rennie, received a first dose on April 4.

The 53-year-old said: “This is a tremendous tribute to all the scientists who’ve done an amazing job, but also to the NHS who’ve rolled out this vaccine so quickly.”

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, 56, received a first vaccine dose on March 19.

Leaving hospital he told reporters: “I literally did not feel a thing and so it was very good, very quick and I cannot recommend it too highly.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.