Chamber and committees

It is important that the programme continues at pace and that the pace accelerates wherever possible across the country. I have already gone into some detail on that. I am happy to look at the figures for NHS Highland and for mainland Argyll and Bute, in particular, to see whether there is a particular problem there, and to get back to Jackie Baillie in due course.

It is important to recognise that, at the point of the JCVI advice, some people—particularly in the older group—had already been waiting six months. We could not start the programme before we had the advice, so there has always been a catch-up requirement in the programme, which is why it is important that we get it done as quickly as possible. All efforts are being focused on that.

I will get back to Jackie Baillie on the particular geographical point as quickly as possible.

We do these things in the way that we judge to be quickest and most effective. I remember being rightly asked, just a few weeks ago, about why we were not using schools as the first option for the vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds. We explained why that was. It turns out that that has allowed us to vaccinate 12 to 15-year-olds more quickly.

We judged that, rather than opening a portal for the over-70s to book online, it was quicker to send letters to those people and to allow the portal to come in later for the over-50s. I am over 50. I cannot have my booster jag yet because there have not yet been six months since my second dose. The fact that I will have to wait until November to book my appointment makes no practical difference to me. We are seeking to do this in the most effective and efficient way.

I understand the difficulty in trying to strike the balance between local and mass access. That is why we are taking a different approach with the older and frailer age groups than we are with the younger age groups. There will always be tensions and difficulties in a system of this scale. I accept that, and we will work to try to resolve those as much as possible. Overall, the vaccination programme is an outstanding success, which is because of the efforts of the many people who are delivering it across the country.

We will continue appropriate contact with the company and the UK Government. I know that the health secretary has also discussed the matter with Fiona Hyslop. At present, the UK vaccine task force procures vaccines on behalf of all four nations. Vaccine supply is secure for the programme that is currently under way. We await further scientific and clinical advice on future programmes.

I welcome the positive phase 3 results that Valneva has reported and congratulate the company on those. Scottish Enterprise will continue supporting the company as it develops its growth plan in light of the successful clinical trial, and the Scottish Government will keep all options open as we progress into further phases of the vaccination programme.

With the greatest respect, I do not think that Liz Smith is right when she says that I have changed the basis on which the Scottish Government is making those decisions. On the change of test, I have made it clear that, if it had been down to us, we might not have made all of those changes. We have, however, decided to align for the practical reason that, if we had different arrangements in place here, the risk would be that people would choose to travel to Scotland via England. They would then not be doing what we required. Our travel industry would take a hit, and we would not have the public health benefit. Those are the practical reasons that I think I set out when I announced the changes previously that I have set out here today.

Even so, when a change is made, it is right that we take the appropriate time to consider, in all the circumstances, whether it is the right thing to do—to align for those practical reasons—or whether there are any other arguments that would lead us in the opposite direction. That is what we have done. We have reached the decision that I have set out today, and I think that it will be welcomed. None of these decisions are easy, though, and none of them should be taken lightly or without proper consideration.

Given the current state of the booster vaccination programmes not just in the UK but around the world, boosters are not currently required for international travel or domestic use. They are not currently included in the Covid certification process—either the app or the non-app route. However, we anticipate that that may change in the future as boosters are used more widely internationally. There will, of course, be further discussions on the requirement across the four nations of the UK and in the European Union, and we will keep Parliament appropriately updated.

We know how harmful shielding can be and has been to the physical and mental health of those who had to do it. We do not want or expect to advise a return to shielding in the future. Most adults in Scotland and more than 94 per cent of adults on the highest risk list have received at least two doses of the vaccines—many of them will be getting their booster vaccination as well—and we know that the vaccines give a significant degree of protection.

We do not want to go back to shielding, but it is important that everyone who is in the highest risk category understands the protections that they can take to make themselves safer. It is important that all of us recognise that, by following the mitigations that we are being asked to follow, we are contributing to making the whole environment safer for those who are at the highest clinical risk.

The figures that the member has quoted today—which are, of course, of concern—are a reflection of the limitations on dental services during the pandemic. It is really important, as with other treatments, that there is a catch-up as quickly as possible. We will continue to support dentists as we did before the pandemic and as we will continue to do as we come out of it. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care’s winter support package, which he set out to the Parliament before recess, had funding for dentists, including for dental services for children.

Again, we understand the importance of the topic, and that will be reflected in the actions that we take in the coming weeks and months.

I want people to take advantage of lateral flow testing. I want people across the population to do that, and certainly young people and those who work in schools; for them, that is particularly important.

Testing, although we strongly recommend it, is of course voluntary, and, led by the Government, we all have a role to play in encouraging people to remember to regularly test with lateral flow devices. It is naturally the case that, when transmission is rising, people are perhaps more vigilant and will do it more often; and when cases start to fall again, perhaps that falls away. As I have said, we are going into a period in which cases appear to be rising again, so it is an important moment for us all to remind people of the role that regular testing can play in trying to identify cases of the virus and to break the chains of transmission.

Nobody denies that there was pressure on our NHS pre-Covid. That is why the Scottish Government had already introduced and was progressing well with a waiting times improvement plan, for example. Equally, nobody—not least anybody who wants to have credibility on these issues—can deny that that pressure has been significantly exacerbated by the global pandemic.

We are prioritising vaccination for elderly people in care homes now, as we did at the start of the vaccination programme. We were criticised at the start of the vaccination programme for doing that, because it made it look as though we were slower in our progress overall, but that was the right decision then and it is the right decision now.

We could not start vaccinating with booster jags until the JCVI gave its final advice, by which time many people had already passed the six-month mark. We are making sure that the pace of vaccination is as fast as it can be and we are looking at all ways to speed it up. However, the six-month rule is there.

We are taking a slightly different interpretation of six months from that taken by the health service in England; we are defining six months as 24 weeks rather than 26 weeks, to allow us to vaccinate that bit quicker. We will continue to speed up the programme as much as possible. I had a session with the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care and officials yesterday to look at what more we can do now and what more we need to do as we go into the lower age groups to make it as quick as possible.

All Governments across the UK are grappling with that question and taking approaches that are, although not identical, broadly similar. Our vaccination programme has gone well, overall. I have already cited figures that show how well it is going. We focus on that every day.

We also want to ensure that we support health boards to avoid queues or delays when people turn up for vaccination. It will always be difficult to strike a balance between local and mass access and between appointments and drop-ins. Those who administer the programme review that on a daily basis.

The vaccination programme is a success, but the next phase is critical to getting us through the winter. Nothing that the Government is doing is more important than that.

Finally—I can see the Presiding Officer gazing at me—I will answer on the Grampian situation. The MOD, rightly and understandably, often asks for such requests to be refined. It is important that we make use of military assistance where that is appropriate, but that we do not ask the military to do things that health boards should be doing for themselves. That is why that process is so important.

The first thing to say is that uptake rates for the Covid vaccines are exceptionally high across all age groups. Again, I thank people who have come forward in such huge numbers to get their vaccinations.

We continue to gather information on uptake and any reasons for vaccine hesitancy. We work with health boards and other groups to try to get anyone who has not already taken up their vaccine to consider doing so. It is important that people recognise that, if they have not taken up their vaccine already, they have not lost the opportunity to do so.

Part of that consideration is thinking about the locations for vaccination. As we have gone through the bulk of the initial phase of the programme, the considerations around appointments versus drop-in clinics have changed because there are smaller numbers of people still to come forward for vaccination. As we go further into the booster programme, those considerations will change again.

The programme delivery is quite dynamic and it is important that we continue to learn from the experience, consider the different stages of the programme and ensure that the overall arrangements are appropriate, taking into account all of that.