Scotland publishes Covid-19 vaccine supply data after talks with UK Government

Just under 80 per cent of Covid-19 vaccine doses so far allocated to Scotland have been administered, new figures published by the Scottish Government reveal.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon attending First Minster's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh. Picture date: Wednesday February 17, 2021.

It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that 1,354,966 people have received a first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, including all over 70s and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV).

The First Minister said she hopes vaccine uptake will improve in the CEV group, as just 83 per cent had received a vaccine by 8.30am on Thursday morning.

Ms Sturgeon announced at the coronavirus daily briefing on Thursday that supply figures would be published later that day and regularly from Tuesday.

It follows an extended row between the SNP and opposition parties over vaccine supply information, which the Scottish Government previously said it was unable to provide due to limitations set by the UK Government.

As of midday on Monday, 1,618,320 doses had been made available for the Scottish Government to order from Public Health England.

At 8.30am on Monday morning, a total of 1,269,691 doses had been administered, including first and second doses, some 78 per cent of the allocated supply.

"We have been having, over the last couple of weeks, discussions with the UK Government and the other devolved governments, and with the vaccine suppliers, about how we can publish more detailed information about the vaccine supplies that we have,” Ms Sturgeon said on Thursday.

“As a result, the Scottish Government is publishing information today about the replies we have received so far, and from next week onwards, we'll publish this data initially on a weekly basis, and we'll publish it every Tuesday."

Ms Sturgeon said other UK governments might also publish supply data, which would be “a decision for them”.

She added: “We hope that regular publication of this data will be helpful to the media and to the public because it will give a fuller picture of the supplies that we are receiving each week, and will then allow for a better understanding, and indeed closer scrutiny of, the progress of the vaccination programme.”

Predicted vaccine supply data was published by the Scottish Government in its vaccine deployment plan in January, including expected delivery figures until May 2021.

But the information was quickly removed after concerns over “commercial sensitivity” from the UK Government.

Ms Sturgeon has said there are no plans to publish expected supply details again, and that figures from now on will relate to known deliveries.

The First Minister was asked on Thursday why just 83 per cent of the Clinically Extremely Vulnerable group had received a vaccine, despite her announcement that all members of the cohort had been offered a dose.

“We've got to be careful not to mix up people offered the vaccine with the uptake,” she said.

“Everybody in these groups has been offered the vaccine [...] but about 83 per cent have actually taken up the offer of vaccine [...] it’s a good uptake compared to other vaccination plans but it’s not as high as it is in other groups yet, that may be down to the vulnerability of people, it may be down to a whole range of factors, but the teams will continue to work to get to as many people as possible.”

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