Watch as First Minister responds to Evening News story on vaccination rates

According to weekly Public Health Scotland figures, compiled on Monday January 25 and published on Wednesday, NHS Lothian has the lowest vaccination rate out of every health board in Scotland.

Across the NHS Lothian health board area, which includes the capital, West Lothian, Midlothian and East Lothian, just 7.29 per cent (55,082) of residents have received their first vaccination dose.

Meanwhile, the Edinburgh City Council area is the worst local authority region in Scotland for coronavirus vaccination rates, with just 4.94 per cent (22,005) of residents receiving their first vaccination dose.

At First Minister’s questions on Thursday, Labour’s Daniel Johnson, MSP for Edinburgh Southern, asked First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to explain Edinburgh’s low vaccination rate.

He also asked the First Minister to address the news that food bank volunteers were receiving vaccinations in the capital, despite care home residents still awaiting jabs - as reported exclusively by the Local Democracy Reporting Service last week.

At the time, NHS Lothian said it did not have ‘detailed guidance’ from the Scottish Government on what is a priority health and social care worker.

The health board also said the supply chain for the vaccine ‘is at times uneven and can be subject to delays’.

Addressing the Scottish Parliament via video link, Mr Johnson said: “According to weekly Public Health Scotland figures, NHS Lothian has the lowest vaccination rate out of every health board in Scotland, with just 7.3 per cent having received their fist dose.

“Within this area, Edinburgh is the worst local authority for vaccination with just 4.9 per cent vaccinated - that’s almost half the Scottish average.

“According to the Edinburgh Evening News, last week it emerged that NHS Lothian had given vaccinations to volunteers at a food bank, despite care home residents and staff still awaiting inoculation.

“The health board claimed that this was because Scottish Government guidance on prioritisation is unclear.

“So can I ask the First Minister - has the Scottish Government been in touch with Lothian health board regarding their apparent slow rate of inoculation?

“Does she have an explanation as to why they are lagging behind the rest of the country?

“And is the health board right in claiming that the guidance is unclear on prioritisation?”

The First Minister responded: “I thought the health secretary [Jeane Freeman MSP] was about to combust there at the suggestion she’s not been in touch with NHS Lothian or other NHS boards - I can assure the member that there is ongoing daily contact, with all health boards, about the vaccination programme as well as other matters.

“Any health board, in fact any council or organisation that thinks that any aspect of our Covid guidance is unclear should let us know and we will look at that and if that is the case we will seek to rectify that - I am not aware there being any lack of clarity in the guidance around vaccination priority, but of course if there is a perception that there is we will address that.

“The Public Health Scotland figures of course, the weekly figures which I assume are what are being quoted are of course accurate but they are up until a few days ago so the position will have moved on.

“The Scottish Government is now publishing a daily breakdown and in due course Public Health Scotland will publish daily breakdowns as well, so I would simply caution against putting too much store on figures that are for three or four days ago.

“Nevertheless, we want not just the vaccination programme across the country to proceed at pace, but for there to be that pace in all parts of the country, and where there is any suggestion that any health board is behind the pace the member can be assured that the health secretary and Scottish Government officials are following that up.”

Last week, NHS Lothian chiefs said the low number of vaccines administered in the capital was due to the high number of care homes in Edinburgh, and Scottish Government policy was to vaccinate care home residents and staff as top priority.

Priority was also given to Scottish Ambulance Service staff after a control room outbreak, leading to 999 calls being handled by their counterparts in England and Wales.

However, on Wednesday, a spokesperson for 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 vaccination programme lead, NHS Lothian said: “NHS Lothian is right on track with phase one of the vaccination programme.

“During that first phase, a total of 3564 residents in care homes across Lothian have been given the vaccine.

“A further 47,742 health and social care workers and care home staff have also been vaccinated, as well as over 800 hospital inpatients over the age of 80.

“GP practices continue to deliver the injections as fast as their vaccine supplies allow.

“Thousands of doses of the vaccine have been distributed directly to GP practices across all four regions and they are on track to ensure that over 80% of people over the age of 80 are vaccinated as a priority by 31st January with the rest of this age group completed by 5th February.”

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