Chamber and committees

The Joint Committee on Vaccine and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent organisation that provides advice on vaccines and immunisation. Since the beginning of the pandemic the Scottish Government has considered this advice as part of its decision making process in rolling out the COVID-19 vaccination programme.

The Scottish Government has independent observers on the panel, Dr Syed Ahmed and representatives from Public Health Scotland. As part of the panel, we have the opportunity to put questions to the JCVI, on a range of topics in relation to COVID-19 including the subject of 12 to 15 years being vaccinated.

Following the recent JCVI advice, young people aged 12 to 15 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as people who are household contacts of individuals who are immunosuppressed, are eligible for vaccination.

The JCVI is not currently advising routine vaccination of children outside of these groups, based on the current evidence. The Chief Medical Officer has written to the JCVI asking them to keep this issue under regular review.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration , from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

Young people who will turn 18 before 31st October 2021 (the current cut-off date for Phase 2 of the vaccination programme) are now eligible for vaccination and can register on the online portal: Registering for a coronavirus vaccine | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) if they have not already received an appointment letter. Those turning 18 later in the year, will of course be part of the ongoing rolling vaccination programme. The self-registration online portal will stay open as we move into Phase 2 of vaccination in the Autumn.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further or higher education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has issued advice indicating all those aged 16 and 17 should be offered COVID-19 vaccination. Anyone's who's 16 th birthday is on or after 1 August 2021 you can self-register for an appointment at: https://www.nhsinform.scot/vaccineregistration, from 6 August, with drop in clinics available to everyone in these age groups from the week starting 9 August.

We have agreed with Health Boards and Higher and Further Education Institutions to appoint Single Points of Contacts in universities and colleges who will support the delivery of the vaccination to students across Scotland, including through the use of on-campus vaccination clinics.

For second doses, individuals will get an invitation as normal, but if, for example, it goes to a previous address (as may be the case with students), they can rearrange this online or via the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 08000308013 (available 08:00 – 20:00, 7 days a week) to a new health board location. Those who can’t be vaccinated before they leave home, should register with a GP practice to allow their CHI registered address to be up to date, and use the appointment checker to ensure they have a vaccination appointment as soon as possible at their new location.

To counter the risk of letters going to old addresses, and to allow more advance notice of appointments, an appointment checker on NHS Inform will allow someone to view their scheduled appointment earlier than the letter arriving: Vaccine appointment checker | The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine (nhsinform.scot) . They can also use the Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline to discuss their appointment.

The appointment checker also means those eligible can reschedule in advance, and can now also reschedule to anywhere in Scotland, to fit in with their work and life. In addition, there are drop-in clinics in various areas for certain age groups. Anyone looking for vaccination should check their local NHS website to see what is available in their area.

It is hoped that many new students will be vaccinated before they attend their new further education location. However, as we all know, it takes time for an immune response to develop to the vaccine (2-3 weeks), so even after individuals have received their first dose vaccination, they should continue to follow the FACTS guidance to help reduce the spread of the virus, and minimise the risk to themselves and those around them.

The full Native Woodland Survey of Scotland (NWSS) data set has been available for free download from the Scottish Forestry open data web pages since January 2020.

Prior to that it has been available on the Forestry Commission Scotland web pages since 2014.

Government budgets contribute to alleviating the climate emergency through a range of investments, including spend that reduces greenhouse gas emissions towards net zero, spend that delivers emissions reductions through a fair and just transition, and spend focussed on adapting to the effects of climate change.

The 2021-22 Budget increased low carbon capital investment across government to over £1.9 billion, comprising 36% of overall capital spend. This proportion has risen from 29% in 2018-19, when reporting began. In March, following budget negotiations, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance committed to a further £40 million in capital investment for active travel and energy efficiency initiatives that align with our green recovery and net zero ambitions. These figures that we track on low carbon capital investment, as mentioned above, provide only a partial picture of the wide range of investments across all government spend that contributes towards alleviating the climate emergency.

Some of our key commitments on climate change in this budget include increasing our Heat in Buildings investment by £30 million to £213.4 million; increasing forestry investment by £26.9 million to £121.2 million; committing £40 million for our Agricultural Transformation Fund to assist the sector in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; and committing the first £165 million of our £2 billion Low Carbon Fund, including: £14 million for the Green Jobs Fund, £25 million for bus priority infrastructure and £15 million for zero emissions buses.

All young people 16 to 17 years of age are now being offered the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination in Scotland. In line with the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), they will be offered a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. People who are 16 or 17 in mainland Scotland will be invited to register their interest through the online portal at NHS Inform, and will then be sent an appointment via SMS or email. Eligible young people in Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles will be contacted by their health board and invited to attend clinics.

Drop-in clinics are available for 16 to 17-years-olds. Anyone who doesn’t register an interest or attend a drop-in clinic, will be sent an appointment invitation through the post.

The Scottish Government works with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), NatureScot, fisheries boards and trusts, and other stakeholders to protect the natural environment and wildlife from water shortages.

Our River Basin Management Plans identify areas in Scotland already impacted by abstractions and set out objectives to improve those watercourses. SEPA licences and regulates abstractions to ensure that water use does not exceed the available capacity. At times of water scarcity, SEPA has the powers to temporarily stop abstraction, to protect the environment.

The National Water Scarcity Plan sets out how SEPA and other key stakeholders will prepare and respond to water shortages. SEPA works closely with NatureScot and other environmental organisations to provide advice and information on water scarcity so they can act to protect wildlife.

The presence of working interlinked fire alarms is proven to save lives and is one of the most important investments home owners can make to protect life and property. Regulations setting out this new standard were unanimously approved by the previous Local Government and Communities Committee at their meeting on 18 December 2019.

Home owners are responsible for the costs of on-going work needed to protect and preserve their own property, which includes the costs for the fire alarms to meet the new standard. The cost of the alarms will vary according to what householders choose to install. We estimate that the cost for an average three bedroom house which requires three smoke alarms, one heat alarm and one carbon monoxide detector will be around £220. This is based on using the type of alarms that can be installed by the homeowner, without the need for an electrician.

In our Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 (Tolerable Standard) (Extension of Criteria) Order 2019 we estimated that 600,000 owner occupied properties were likely to fall below the proposed standard. Updating this to the latest 2019 Scottish House Condition Survey data: of the approximately 1.55m owner occupied properties in Scotland, 7% (or around 100,000) of homes did not have any smoke alarm at all, and around a quarter (or 400,000) had only one alarm. This indicates that around 500,000 owner-occupied properties are likely to fall below the proposed standard. It is possible that a proportion of the remaining 1,005,000 properties with more than one alarm would also not comply with the standard, although it is not possible to determine this from the available data.

It is not possible to determine exactly how many owner occupied homes have alarms of the prescribed type installed as this information is not currently collected as part of the Scottish House Condition Survey. In the future, when the regulations on the new fire alarm standard have come into effect, it will be possible to collect more precise data because compliance with the tolerable standard is included in the Survey. This will allow us to monitor progress in bringing Scotland’s homes up to the new standard.

The Scottish Government accepts in full the Air Quality Expert Group's (AQEG) conclusions and recommendations in this report. The AQEG report concludes that the most effective approaches for reducing NEE are to reduce the overall volume of traffic, lower speeds on trunk roads and motorways, and promote driving behaviours which reduce braking and high speed cornering.

The Government's new air quality strategy 'Cleaner Air for Scotland 2 - Towards a Better Place for Everyone', which was published on 15 July 2021, sets out how we intend to address non-exhaust emissions (NEE) from road traffic. Actions include exploring opportunities across traffic management, behaviours and legislation/standards to reduce NEE, and contributing to research into developing a consistent method for measuring NEE.

Other actions in the new air quality strategy, which links closely to the National Transport Strategy, for example further investment in and promotion of active travel and reducing motor vehicle kilometres by 20% by 2030, will also contribute to NEE reductions.

The Scottish Government follows the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in developing guidance as the vaccination programme makes progress towards increasing levels of COVID-19 immunity in the population. Current JCVI advice remains that the single greatest risk of mortality and severe disease from COVID-19 is increasing age and COVID-19 risk increases exponentially with age.

Following the recent JCVI advice, young people aged 12 to 15 with severe neuro-disabilities, Down’s Syndrome, immunosuppression and multiple or severe learning disabilities, as well as people who are household contacts of individuals who are immunosuppressed, will be eligible for vaccination soon. The JCVI is not currently advising routine vaccination of children outside of these groups, based on the current evidence.

All young people 16 to 17 years of age will now be offered the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination in Scotland. In line with the latest advice from the JCVI, they will be offered a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. People who are 16 or 17 in mainland Scotland will be invited to register their interest through the online portal at NHS Inform, and will then be sent an appointment via SMS or email. Eligible young people in Shetland, Orkney and Western Isles will be contacted by their health board and invited to attend clinics.

Drop-in clinics are available for 16 to 17-years-olds. Anyone who doesn’t register an interest or attend a drop-in clinic, will be sent an appointment invitation through the post. It is expected that everyone in this age group will have been offered a vaccination appointment by the end of September.

The advice to protect against the risks of contracting COVID-19 or developing any associated ‘Long COVID’ signs and symptoms, remain the same for those who are vaccinated as those unable to receive vaccination for medical reasons. There is further detailed advice available, which is continuously updated in line with protection levels advice, for those who have been shielding for health reasons published here: Coronavirus (COVID-19): shielding advice and support - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

Like all medicines, no vaccine is completely effective, but we do know the vaccination of a high proportion of the population will assist in reducing symptomatic disease and transmission. As the vaccination programme progresses, the Scottish Government advises everyone to follow the protection level rules set for each Local Authority area, as well as to follow general public health guidance issued on non-pharmaceutical measures which help to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

In addition to the individual level of protection against severe disease or hospitalisation afforded by vaccination, a further benefit of the vaccination programme is to assist in developing widespread community immunity and thereby reduce the force of transmission and viral reproduction rate, controlling the prevalence of COVID-19.

Research by Public Health England (PHE), which monitors vaccine efficacy within the UK, shows that those who became infected 3 weeks after receiving one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca vaccine were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus on to their household contacts than those who were unvaccinated. Protection was seen from around 14 days after vaccination, with similar levels of protection regardless of age of cases or contacts. Data is published here: One dose of COVID-19 vaccine can cut household transmission by up to half - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) . Further research into the COVID-19 vaccines’ impacts on transmission is underway.

The inoculation of a large proportion of the population will help to provide a degree of ‘passive protection’ in the community for those who cannot receive vaccination for medical reasons and those who may develop a weaker immune response to vaccination due to old age, immunosuppression or illness.