Chamber and committees

All of our decisions in response to COVID-19 have been guided by the latest evidence and advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, Health Protection Scotland, our Chief Medical Officer, and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI advises all UK Health Departments on immunisation, including the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Senior clinicians do not support the prioritisation of foster carers in cohort 2 as the JCVI prioritisation list is based on the objective of the COVID-19 immunisation programme being to protect those who are at highest risk from serious illness or death. Currently prioritisation for staff is based primarily on the vulnerability of the group that a carer is working with rather than their own role, and children and young people are not deemed to be high-risk.

The Scottish Government has met our mid-February target to offer the first dose of the vaccine to everyone over 70 and everyone with an extreme clinical vulnerability. Over 1,661,879 people have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination and 92,550 have received their second dose. We are now working on vaccinating priority group 6.

The Scottish Government is continuing to engage with the Joint committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the issue of priority vaccines for terminally ill patients and those at risk of being immunosuppressed. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport has written to the JCVI on this matter, and the response provided by JCVI advised that for the first phase of the COVID-19 mass vaccination programme, priority should be given to protecting those most at risk of dying from COVID-19.

The order of priority is based on estimates of the risk of dying from COVID-19, because age is so strongly associated with COVID-19 mortality, modelling indicates that offering the vaccine to older age groups first is the optimal strategy. The priority order for phase 1 reflects the estimated number of persons that need to be vaccinated to save one life, with every life considered precious and of equal value; no additional value being placed on anticipated life expectancy, whether long or short.

It is also important to reflect that people can be described as being terminally ill due to a very wide variety of medical circumstances or clinical conditions. Many individuals who are clinically extremely vulnerable or nearing the end of life will have some degree of immunosuppression or be immunocompromised and may not respond as well to the COVID-19 vaccine as we would hope.

JCVI have confirmed that their position is that terminally ill patients will be vaccinated in either group 4 or 6. Individuals who are defined as clinically extremely vulnerable will have been vaccinated as part of group 4.

161,101 people who are clinically extremely vulnerable have now received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as of 4 March 2021. This represents around 90% of the shielding list.

JCVI priority group 4 includes all those 70 years of age and over, and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals. Group 6 includes all individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality. Group 6 also includes unpaid carers, including all adult carers and young carers aged 16 to 18.

Priority groups 4 and 6 are not completely distinct groups as such. In practice, delivery to these groups will be a matter of weeks apart. A person can therefore move in and out of these two groups with time rather than being static in one group.

We will continue to work with the JCVI to monitor vaccine delivery.

Fang Tian FT-045A FFP3 masks are not used by the public health and social care sector in Scotland, and NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) has never made purchases of such masks. Likewise no such masks have been purchased under the Scottish Government’s third party supplier contract (Lyreco), and there is no record of public authorities buying these masks through Scotland Excel.

The Scottish Government does not know about all PPE purchases by private users. However we are not aware of any private purchases of FT-045A FFTP3 masks and our enquiries with NSS, Scotland Excel and Lyreco lead us to believe that there is either no use of these masks in Scotland or that any such use is very limited. The Department of Health and Social Care has published guidance on withdrawing these masks from use.

Some people with asthma will receive the vaccine as part of cohort 6 on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) prioritisation list, if they require continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or have had previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission. Supplies permitting, we aim to have offered first doses to everyone on the JCVI priority list by mid-April.

The independent JCVI recommends continuing prioritising people for vaccinations by age, as well as certain underlying conditions, as this is assessed to be the best way to address the risk of severe illness and mortality.

The Scottish Government is working with faith based, third sector and community groups to reach out to more people from deprived communities to increase the vaccine uptake.

We have put in place financial and practical support to ensure all parts of our community have the knowledge and confidence to participate in this vaccination programme and to remove any practical barriers.

We have introduced webinars for the social care staff and continue to dispel any misinformation regarding Covid-19 through our proactive community engagement.

All Covid-19 related information is available in on NHS Inform ; in British Sign Language (BSL), audio, Easy Read and large print formats.

The translation of Covid-19 related material is available in more than 20 foreign languages.

Further work is also underway to ensure we can reach other groups including those who are homeless and those who suffer from addiction issues.

Our planning assumption was based on 80% vaccine take up as set out in the Deployment Plan published on the 14th of January 2021.

It is not possible to offer everyone in Scotland a choice of COVID-19 vaccine at this stage. 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.

Individuals with ethical concerns should contact their GP practice or local Health Board to discuss the options that might be available to them.

Agency staff who work in the NHS are included in the JCVI priority list, cohort 2. For agency and bank staff, the priority is for staff who are active in taking shifts. Staff who have not worked through agency contract in the NHS in the past 6 months would not fall into this priority group.

The Scottish Government expects to publish a response to the Social Renewal Advisory Board's report by 24 March 2021.

The evidence for schools and ELC opening up, largely focussed on transmission rates in children and adults in those environments, and appropriate mitigations to reduce risk. Parent and baby groups continue to be permitted to take place outdoors, in line with the current guidance on organised activities for children. They have a higher ratio of adults to children as part of these group activities. As such they are not likely to take place indoors until further data and evidence of the impact of transmission of the new variant in these settings is better understood.

Scottish Government recognises the importance of socialising, play and exercise for children and guidance will be kept under review and updated as necessary taking account of any further scientific or clinical advice.