Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government has been very clear from day one that the pace and rollout of our national vaccine programme is key to tackling the pandemic and we are determined to reach as much of the population, and in order of vulnerability based on clinical advice, as fast as the vaccine supply allows us. The health of every person living in Scotland is important which is why the Scottish Government is making proactive policy decisions to make this programme as inclusive and accessible as possible, given the current constrains of supply and social distancing.

The Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland are actively engaging with third sector organisations, such as BEMIS and Scottish Refugee Council, to reach people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF), including both new entrants into Scotland and people who have lived and worked in the UK for many years.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a wide range of campaigns in print, online and across media, and in various locations, to try to reach everyone in Scotland and inform them of the vaccination campaign. As part of this, the vaccination work builds on the other coronavirus messaging aimed at these individuals, which has included highlighting the self-isolation funding available to eligible individuals with NRPF.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35059 on 4 March 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate.

We continue to engage in national and international developments in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on the issue of vaccine certification. These discussions are led by the World Health Organisation and include consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work in this area.

Information on the proportion of contacts traced using the single SMS is not currently published by Public Health Scotland.

From 10th October, Test and Protect temporarily moved to a system that defaulted to contacting all close contacts of those who tested positive via text message. However, contact tracers still called close contacts if clinical advice recommended it. As a result of increased capacity within the system, from 2nd February contact tracers have reverted back to, by default, calling close contacts.

Information on the number of individuals who have consented to details being passed to local authority in relational to support for isolation is also not currently published by Public Health Scotland.

If an individual has any questions after being asked to self-isolate after identification as a close contact of someone who has tested positive, they can contact the National Contact Tracing Centre on 0800 030 8012 for further advice.

Scottish Government monitor the number of people requesting support to isolate. There is no distinction made been those who phone the National Contact Tracing Centre after receiving SMS or those who completed contact tracing interview by phone.

All public authorities must have regard for commitments in the, UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”), Withdrawal Agreement, Northern Ireland Protocol, WTO rules (including the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures), and Trade Agreements between the UK and non-EU countries.

Non-domestic rates reliefs, like other subsidy or support measures, may be subject to the conditions set out in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which in certain cases limits sectoral public subsidisation to 325,000 Special Drawing Rights (equivalent to approximately £340,000, although the exact amount will fluctuate) over any period of three fiscal years.

The Retail, Hospitality and Leisure relief is provisionally being awarded as 'no aid' although this, and the position in relation to the Aviation relief, will be confirmed following the conclusion of the UK Budget.

To save lives it is essential that vaccination be given to the first priority groups as set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), these being residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, people over the age of 80, and frontline health and social care workers.

Prioritisation by sector is not being considered for the following reasons:

• Criticality of service is not an indication for priority vaccination because clinical risk is the overriding concern. This is influenced most greatly by age, not occupation.
• Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of any workers other than frontline health and social care workers. This is because we don’t know if the vaccine prevents spread, but it does reduce the harm to those most at risk should they catch the virus.
• Individual retail workers will be called forward for vaccination according to their position on the priority list, if they are eligible within the JCVI Cohorts regarding their age and/or underlying medical conditions (e.g. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality).

Decisions to prioritise one population group over another are not taken lightly, nor are they straightforward. That is why our prioritisation decisions have been, and will continue to be, guided by the independent expert advice from the JCVI.

It is essential that vaccination be given to the first priority groups as set by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), and unpaid carers are included.

• Adult unpaid carers aged under 65 and young carers aged 16 and 17 will be offered vaccination at the same time as adults with eligible at-risk health conditions (under JCVI priority group 6).
• Unpaid carers aged 65 and over will be offered the vaccine earlier as they are included in JCVI priority groups 2-5.

We are using the Carer Act definition of unpaid carers which encapsulates JCVI description and goes wider.

The clinical advice is that Individuals with immunosuppression may not make a full immune response to vaccination. As there is no evidence on response in immunosuppressed individuals there is also no evidence upon which to base advice on the optimal timing of delivery. Specialists may advise their patients based on their knowledge and understanding of their immune status and likely immune response to vaccination, but should also consider the risk from COVID-19 and the patient’s likelihood of exposure.

Furthermore, the small number of patients who are about to receive planned immunosuppressive therapy should be considered for vaccination prior to commencing therapy (ideally at least two weeks before), when their immune system is better able to make a response. Where possible, it would also be preferable for the 2-dose schedule to be completed prior to commencing immunosuppression. This would entail offering the second dose at the recommended minimum for that vaccine (three or four weeks from the first dose) to provide maximum benefit that may not be received if the second dose was given during the period of immunosuppression.

Any decision to defer immunosuppressive therapy or to delay possible benefit from vaccination until after therapy should not be taken without due consideration of the risks from COVID19 and from their underlying condition. Although the immune correlates of protection are currently unknown, post-vaccination testing may be considered. Until further information becomes available vaccinated patients with immunosuppression should continue to follow advice to reduce the chance of exposure.

All these policy decisions are made in light of clinical recommendations.

The Scottish Government does not hold the information requested. All information on prescribed and dispensed items are published and categorised by the British National Formulary chapter, in both monthly open data files and as part of the annual Dispenser Payments and Prescription Cost Analysis which was last released on 29 September 2020. Information on prescribing in the community is available on the Public Health Scotland website. This can be accessed at https://www.opendata.nhs.scot/dataset/prescriptions-in-the-community .

Individuals who are unable to leave their own homes will receive their vaccination at home. All Health Boards have included their housebound patients within their delivery models for each priority group.

The Scottish Government is working with the voluntary and third sector to set up a centralised volunteer coordination hub. This will make good use of the locally offered support, in particular for deployment at mass vaccination clinics, and to help people who need assistance to access local clinics.

We are asking people to attend the appointments they have been allocated if they possibly can. They may not necessarily be given an appointment at the centre closest to them, as the principle objective is to vaccinate as many people as we possibly can as fast as we can. However, if the nature of the person’s condition means that they cannot travel at all, Service Now should pass that call to the local health board call handlers to arrange a more local solution which would be either at their GP Practice or to be vaccinated in their own home if they are housebound. Or individuals can phone the national COVID Vaccination Appointment booking number to book an appointment at a more convenient location: 0800 030 8013.