Edinburgh and the Lothians once again has the worst coronavirus vaccination rate in Scotland

Weekly Public Health Scotland figures, published every Wednesday but compiled on Monday, have again shown NHS Lothian has the lowest vaccination rate out of all Scottish health boards.

In recent weeks, the four local authority areas covered by NHS Lothian – Edinburgh, West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian – have had the worst vaccine rates in the country, with the capital in particular regularly featuring at the foot of the table.

However, last week, NHS Lothian jumped off the foot of the table following a concerted effort by health chiefs and the British Army to get mass vaccination centres operational.

Now, the health board is back on the bottom of the table, with a vaccination rate of 21.95 per cent (165,711 first vaccination doses).

Comparable health boards, in terms of population and density, such as Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and NHS Grampian, have achieved vaccination rates of 27.84 per cent (274,253) and 25.33 per cent (122,856) respectively

Scotland’s average is 27.65 per cent, with 1,255,190 people having received their first vaccination dose.

In mid-January, the health board said its low vaccination rate was due to the Scottish government’s policy of vaccinating care home residents and staff first, as the capital has a high number of care homes compared to other public authority areas.

Health chiefs also pointed to ‘unclear’ guidance from the Scottish Government and supply issues for GP surgeries as contributing factors to the slow vaccine slow roll-out.

The following week, NHS Lothian said the reason the health board ranks so low on Public Health Scotland’s weekly vaccination report is because the figures do not include those given in GP surgeries – and that while other health boards are relying on large-scale vaccination centres, NHS Lothian is using more surgeries.

David Small, Director of Primary Care Transformation and COVID-19 Vaccination Programme Lead said: “We are vaccinating as fast as our available supplies allow and to date we have delivered 189,000 vaccinations across Lothian.”

The health board now has several mass vaccination centres operating across its four local authority areas, including:

Edinburgh International Conference Centre – opened its doors on Monday February 1, with 45 vaccination stations and an estimated weekly vaccine capacity of 18,900.

Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh – a drive through vaccination centre opened with the help of the British Army with an estimated weekly vaccine capacity of 5,040.

Pyramids Business Park, West Lothian – an estimated weekly capacity of 14,280.

Strathbrock Partnership Centre, West Lothian – open for the first two weeks of February, with an estimated weekly capacity of 2,352.

Edinburgh Park, Gyle (former Royal Bank of Scotland building) – an estimated weekly capacity of 13,440.

Royal Highland Showground – opened its doors on Monday February 1 thanks to logistical support from the British Army, with an estimated weekly capacity of 21,000, which can be increased by 3,780 if needed.

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