Chamber and committees

Thank you, Deputy First Minister. I will ask the first question. We are all cautiously thankful that omicron is not as severe as we first expected it to be when it emerged in early December. With the schools going back in the past week, I want to ask about the effect of omicron on our schoolchildren, especially as most of them have not been vaccinated. Can you update us on vaccinations for the five to 12-year-olds? Is ventilation in school settings adequate as the schools go back?

That concludes our consideration of that item and our time together this morning. I thank the Deputy First Minister and his supporting officials for attending.

The committee’s next meeting will be on 20 January, when we will again take evidence from the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery.

That concludes the public part of our meeting. I move the meeting into private.

Yes.

Professor Leitch would like to come in.

Thank you for the update. We will move to questions, and I will start. In the past week, there has been a 67.1 per cent increase in the number of lateral flow tests that have been distributed, which is probably because the general public is being cautious because of the new variant. However, I am slightly confused by the daily figures that are being published, which I would expect to be doubling every day. The number of positive cases peaked earlier in the week at just under 6,000, and yesterday it dropped to 2,434. Do you understand why the figures that are being reported are not what we predicted they would be at this stage?

Just a quick one.

In due course, the committee will publish a report to the Parliament setting out our decision on the statutory instrument.

That concludes our consideration of this item and our time with the Deputy First Minister. I thank him and his supporting officials for their attendance.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Keep safe, and look out for each other.

Good morning, and welcome to the 16th meeting in 2021 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee. This is our last meeting before the recess.

We will take evidence on the latest ministerial statement and on subordinate legislation. I welcome to the meeting John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery; Professor Jason Leitch, the national clinical director; Amanda Gordon, the deputy director of local interventions, outbreak management; and Derek Grieve, the head of the operational vaccines division. Thank you for your attendance.

Deputy First Minister, would you like to make some remarks before we move to questions?

I will bring you back in, Mr Rowley, but, first, it would be helpful to have clarification on self-isolation before we finalise the bill report. Will that be available to the committee before 13 January?

We all understand the importance of boosters, but 10 per cent of the population are still unvaccinated, and those people are often in our larger cities. A constituent of mine wrote to me recently after watching our meeting on vaccine hesitancy, which took place on 9 December. Angela, in Ayr, who is about the same age as me, said:

“Hi Siobhian,

I wanted to get in touch to let you know that I am just out of the hospital after contracting life threatening Covid-19. I was hospitalised for 9 weeks. I was blue lighted from Ayr, to Crosshouse and was in HDU and ICU with my oxygen level at 38%. I had been unwell for 4/5 days prior and was advised to self-isolate and drink plenty of water and take paracetamol.

Unfortunately, things progressed and I don’t remember much apart from seeing my fiancé and the doctor, then in an ambulance ... Unfortunately, I had not been vaccinated, not because I was against it or anything. I had just landed a new job and missed my appointment as I had to go down south for training ... I sat and watched patients come and go from my hospital bed in HDU, they were a lot older than me, people in their 70s with COPD and Covid but had their vaccinations, and yes they may have been poorly and still required oxygen ... but they were going home after 2 weeks and I watched this happen week after week and felt like an idiot for not getting myself vaccinated. I nearly died, was touch and go a few times ... do not think this thing isn’t real, it’s very real and doesn’t look as if it’s going away anytime soon.

I have been left with Fibrosis and a cluster of clots in my lung, I have panic attacks and palpitations, my anxiety is through the roof, I have covid flashes ... I lost over 3 stone in 5 weeks and have lost most of my muscle mass in my legs and can’t walk from livingroom to kitchen without having to sit down and catch my breath for a few minutes ... I can’t stand for any length of time or go up stairs, I literally am having to train myself to walk again ... I could go on, but I won’t.

I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else, if anyone is hesitant about getting vaccinated then don’t, because however rotten you may feel after getting your jag is nothing compared to nearly losing your life.”

How can we get that powerful message about the importance of getting vaccinated out to the general public, especially to the 10 per cent of people who still have not gone for their first jab?