Chamber and committees

We do not hold this information and I would encourage the Member to engage with the local Health Boards for it.

To date, our latest management information indicates a wastage rate of around only 1.8% - well below our planning assumption of 5%, which is a precautionary approach for worst case scenarios and in line with global best practice.

Some wastage is unavoidable for a variety of reasons based on the characteristics of the vaccine, logistical issues with cold chain supply, storage failure and/or specific clinical situations such as a breakout of COVID-19 in a care home.

Nonetheless, any wastage is reviewed to ensure any preventable loss is avoided in the future and guidance on avoiding wastage has been issued to health boards across the country.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-35171 on 11 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

We will be issuing a communication to people who do not attend their appointment, in the hope that they will take up a new vaccination appointment. We have also made it clear on NHS Inform and within the follow-up invite, that should people wish to receive a vaccination this can be done by contacting the helpline on 0800 030 8013, where an appointment can be made on their behalf.

The decision to withdraw funding from Autism Network Scotland is linked to the role of the organisation and is not directly linked to the evaluation of the Scottish Autism Strategy. Autism Network Scotland has been operating on reduced funding and a reduced role in this financial year following a series of discussions over a long period.

The decision to withdraw funding from Autism Network Scotland, which does not provide direct support to autistic people or their families, has been taken over a long period of time and spans a wide range of discussions with the previous and current Directors.

The organisation was asked to wind up existing projects in February 2020 and funding was reduced. Autism Network Scotland was, however, given an additional opportunity to set out what it could contribute going forward in response to a request from the current Director and this has been considered in detail by the Scottish Government.

We do not have this level of detail from the current vaccination rollout at the moment. We are working closely with Public Health Scotland to evaluate the current data, including take-up of the vaccine by ethnicity and Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) quintile.

The Scottish Government is working with faith based, third sector and community groups to reach out to more people to increase the vaccine uptake and to provide as much information as possible so that all parts of our community have the knowledge and confidence to participate in this programme.

We are working to ensure everyone is fully informed regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Our digital and social media campaigns began in January, alongside an outdoors advertising campaign and a TV and radio campaign. We have translated our Test and Protect door drop information into a wide range of languages and accessible formats, to reach out to communities.

The Scottish COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013) is now open, to make sure that anyone who thinks they are eligible and hasn’t received an invitation/has been missed, can arrange an appointment to have one.

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

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 understand that attending large vaccination centres will not be possible for everyone and we are working closely with our partners to ensure we are doing all we can to support everyone accessing vaccines in the weeks ahead.

We are working to ensure everyone is fully informed regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. Our digital and social media campaigns began in January, alongside an outdoors advertising campaign and a TV and radio campaign.

The Scottish COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013) is now open, to make sure that anyone who thinks they are eligible and hasn’t received an invitation / has been missed, can arrange an appointment to have one.

The Scottish Government is also working with faith based, third sector and community groups to reach out to more people from deprived communities to increase the vaccine uptake. This includes BEMIS (Black and Ethnic Minority Infrastructure in Scotland) and Scottish Refugee Council, to also 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 vaccination work builds on the other coronavirus messaging and has included highlighting the self-isolation funding available to eligible individuals.

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.

Our top priority is to vaccinate as many people as we can as quickly as possible, starting with those at the highest clinical risk.

To achieve this, the Scottish Government is working to ensure everyone is fully informed and supported on COVID-19 vaccinations to encourage high uptake. Some of our actions include:

Our digital and social media campaigns which went live on January 4th, as well as a national door drop which arrived with households on the same week. Our outdoors campaign began on the 11th of January.

Our TV and radio campaigns began on the week starting the 21st of January.

The Scottish COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013) was also set up and open to make sure those who are called forward for the vaccine can get the information they need.

Our marketing and insights work will look at whether we need additional ways to promote the protection of being vaccinated to younger age groups.

Our top priority is to vaccinate as many people as we can as quickly as possible, starting with those at the highest clinical risk.

We do not currently have the number of vaccinated adults over the age of 80 with learning disabilities; however, we can confirm as of Thursday 4 March 261,709 people aged 80 or over have received their first dose of the vaccine (97%).

We are progressing through the vaccine rollout programme, and if supplies allow, we will aim to reach key vaccination targets earlier than previously planned. Our intention - supplies permitting - is to have offered first doses to everyone on the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) priority list by mid-April.