Chamber and committees

The COVID-19 statistical report which is published weekly includes a section for COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalisations, and Deaths by Vaccine Status. These can be found at this link. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20580

This reports on the total number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 related acute hospital admissions and confirmed COVID-19 deaths by their vaccination status and covers the period from December 2020 to present.

NHS Scotland will contact eligible individuals about their flu vaccination appointments. The flu vaccine is the safest and most effective way to help protect against flu. NHS Inform will be updated with further information pertaining to the current groups eligible to receive the offer of the flu vaccine.

The COVID-19 statistical report which is published weekly includes a section for COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalisations, and Deaths by Vaccine Status. These can be found at this link. https://publichealthscotland.scot/publications/show-all-releases?id=20580

This reports on the total number of COVID-19 cases, COVID-19 related acute hospital admissions and confirmed COVID-19 deaths by their vaccination status and covers the period from December 2020 to present.

It is for local authorities to exercise their statutory responsibilities and deliver a safe environment for all school users. It is also for local authorities to determine what remedial action is required in their schools, in line with guidance.

The recently announced funding of up to £5 million is in addition to previous funding of £10 million to address issues around ventilation and CO2 monitoring, and on top of £90m of COVID-19 logistics funding.

We continue to engage regularly with stakeholders on ventilation, including in the COVID-19 Education Recovery Group.

The eligibility criteria for direct access to new COVID-19 treatments was developed by an independent expert working group commissioned by the UK Department of Health and Social Care and is based on detailed clinical evidence. The criteria are set out in a UK-wide clinical commissioning policy . The policy targets those higher risk individuals who have the potential to both be least likely to generate a material immune response to vaccines and be at highest risk of disease progression, hospitalisation and death.

From 22 December 2021, adults and children (aged 12 years and above) are eligible to be assessed for their suitability for new COVID-19 treatments if they:

• have received a positive PCR test for COVID-19 in the last five days; and
• have symptoms of COVID-19 that started in the previous five days; and
• are associated with one of the patient groups considered at high risk from coronavirus and with a clinical condition prioritised for treatment.

Further information is available on NHS Inform .

In addition to the direct access arrangements described above for the most vulnerable, coronavirus oral antiviral treatments are being evaluated through a UK-wide study called PANORAMIC, run by the University of Oxford.

The outcomes from the study will enable the NHS to fully understand how best to make use of these treatments in the future.

The results of the current COVID modelling from a range of sources is available in the latest weekly Scottish Government report ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-modelling-the-epidemic/ ). In the issue published on 13th January we noted that on 5 January 2022, 91.1% of all PCR tests from Pillar 2 Lighthouse Labs had the S-gene target failure, used as a proxy for Omicron cases. Therefore SG have stopped producing estimates of doubling times of the Omicron variant.

The modelling the epidemic has been published continuously since May 2020 and provides modelling outputs on the current epidemic in Scotland, based on a range of methods. Results of Scottish Government modelling, as well as those of the modelling groups which feed into the SAGE consensus, are provided in these research findings. We apply a variety of analytical methods in order to understand changes in behaviour which could lead to altered transmission rates. For example, we use the Scottish Contact Survey (SCS) to learn about how people’s contact patterns have changed. The findings from the SCS are then used to help us understand the patterns of contacts and informs the current modelling to indicate the likely number of cases in the medium term (the next 2-6 weeks). We included the medium term projection of the number of infections in the most recent weekly modelling the epidemic report of the current modelling ( https://www.gov.scot/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-modelling-the-epidemic/ ).

The UK Government has secured a further 4.25m patient courses of antiviral treatments to reduce the impact of COVID-19 and the Omicron variant across the UK. This includes 2.5 million patient courses of Paxlovid (PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged)) from Pfizer and 1.75 million patient courses of molnupiravir from Merck Sharp and Dohme.

This is in addition to the 730,000 patient courses of these COVID-19 antivirals already secured - 480,000 courses of molnupiravir and 250,000 courses of PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged), as announced on 20 October 2021. These treatments are a further measure to protect against COVID-19, in addition to vaccinations, which remain our best defence against this virus.

The UK Government takes initial receipt of stock, with proportionate supplies distributed to the four UK nations. In Scotland, NHS National Procurement allocates supplies to Health Boards depending on local need. There is sufficient supply to meet this current deployment, in line with need.

Our regulatory proposals will give local authorities powers to strike a balance between the needs and concerns of their local communities, with the wider economic and tourism benefits of short-term lets. In certain areas, achieving this balance may require a reduction in numbers of whole homes offered for short-term lets and local authorities have been given powers through the planning control area regulations to help manage activity in their area.

We do not have an estimate of how many short-term lets will return to the long-term housing market as this depends on how local authorities use the powers they are being given.

On 18 November, I confirmed with Mr Bibby that I will visit the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley when it is the appropriate time to do so. This continues to be my intention.

Ministerial visits are being carefully considered at present in light of the implications for Health and Social Care services from the Omicron variant. I continue to maintain strong communication with Trade Union representatives and Health Boards to understand the experiences of our Frontline Health and Social Care staff.

The Scottish Government recognises the critical importance of the Stena Line ferry service from Loch Ryan Port to Belfast. On 22 December the Scottish Government approved an application from Stena Line for an exemption to allow their essential workers to volunteer to leave self-isolation and return to work. Under the critical workers exemption process, before a staff member who is a close contact of a positive case can return to work there are a number of requirements they must adhere to, including having had their second COVID-19 vaccination more than 14 days previously and have evidence of a negative PCR test.