Scotland prepares winter Coronavirus vaccine programme

Scotland is preparing a vaccine programme for Covid-19 amid reports that an effective jab may be released for the winter season, the Deputy Chief Medical Officer has said.

Early results from human trials suggest a vaccine could be available this year

Older Scots and those in "shielded" groups are likely to be among those targeted first for the vaccine.

Human trials are reported to have shown promising results after Oxford University researchers discovered the jab could provide "double protection" against the virus.

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nicola Steedman said today: "There are reports that some doses of the vaccine, if it is effective, may be available as early as before the Winter season, possibly even October."

Dr Steedman made it clear further results will have to be published before the situation with the effectiveness of the vaccine becomes clear.

But she added: "Having said that we are planning on the basis of a vaccine being available because we need things in place well in advance for that in order to be ready as soon as hopefully an effective vaccine comes."

The Scottish immunisation programme already has the highest uptake in the UK among children, but this is now being "upscaled", the medic told today’s Coronavirus briefing.

She added: "We are establishing a vaccine programme board to oversee that upscaling and that is happening as we speak. So we are very aware and putting place the things we will need to roll this out."

Nicola Sturgeon said her "heart soars" when promising news emerges about a vaccine, but she urged caution.

"It's very, very complex so I don't think we should count our chickens before they're hatched in that sense."

The First Minister added that it remains unclear how much protection any vaccine would provide and how many doses would be available in the early stages.

"We haven't taken any decisions around this because we are not able to do it given the state of things at the moment.

"But I guess if we were having to prioritise groups within the population, the elderly and/or people in shielded groups would certainly be there as groups you would want to see prioritised."

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive. We are now more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

Subscribe to scotsman.com and enjoy unlimited access to Scottish news and information online and on our app. Visit https://www.scotsman.com/subscriptions now to sign up.

By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Joy Yates

Editorial Director