Almost half of Scots believe vaccine rollout in Scotland 'going well'

Almost half of Scots believe the vaccine rollout in Scotland is going well despite the percentage of people vaccinated having lagged behind the rest of the United Kingdom, a new poll has revealed.

The rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine in Scotland is going well, say almost half of Scots.

The poll, undertaken by Savanta ComRes for The Scotsman, interviewed 1,002 Scottish adults online between February 4 and 9.

The survey found 47 per cent of Scots believe the vaccine rollout is going well, with 14 per cent saying it is going very well and one in three (33 per cent) saying it is going quite well.

Just one in five (21 per cent) say it is going badly, with 15 per cent saying quite badly and 6 per cent saying it is going very badly.

Chris Hopkins

More than one in four (28 per cent) of Scots say it is going “somewhere in the middle", with a further 4 per cent responding “don’t know”.

As of Saturday, 1,173,445 Scots had received the first dose of the Covid vaccination and 14,009 had received their second dose.

Those most likely to say the rollout is going well are SNP voters (64 per cent), with Scottish Conservative voters most likely to say it is going badly (48 per cent).

The figures come as more than two-thirds of Scots (68 per cent) state they are keen to take the vaccine, with the lowest number (12 per cent) stating they are still reluctant to get the jag.

There is also a fall in the number of Scots who are uncomfortable with the speed of the vaccine rollout, a figure that has dropped from almost one in four (24 per cent) in December to just 14 per cent in February.

Optimism around the vaccine rollout is also reflected in the answer to questions about whether aspects of life will get better or worse for individuals over the coming months.

While the overall number of people saying the health service, education, and the economy will get worse over coming months, the number of people saying they will get better has seen a major jump.

On the NHS, the ‘net better’ rating has risen by 21 per cent to -4 from its January level of -25 per cent, with the economy now at -35 per cent, a rise of 12 per cent, and the education system at -17 per cent, also a rise of 12 per cent from the January figures, taken shortly after the second national lockdown for Scotland was announced.

Chris Hopkins, associate director of Savanta ComRes said: “With half of the public saying that the vaccine rollout going well in Scotland, and there being general positive sentiment around the SNP and their handling of the pandemic from within government, there’s plenty for Nicola Sturgeon to be pleased about heading into May’s election.

"Navigating the lifting of restrictions of course will be key, and proving wrong those who think the vaccine rollout is going badly, more likely to be older voters who are more likely to turn out, will be key for the SNP to maximise their chances in May.”

Responding, Scottish Conservative health spokesperson Donald Cameron said: “It is good news more people are feeling confident about the vaccine roll out. The million plus jabs administered in Scotland is both a Scottish and UK success story.

“We have to thank our armed forces for stepping up to the plate to act as vaccinators, when the rollout was lagging because of SNP inefficiencies.”

Health secretary Jeane Freeman said: “We are aware, from our own research that the majority of people are feeling optimistic as a result of our vaccination programme.

“Thanks to the enormous efforts of our vaccination teams, Scotland’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is now delivering ahead of our expectation.”

Ms Freeman added: “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.”

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