A grieving son hailed the Fife vaccination progress as light at the end of the tunnel.
Alan Wightman, whose mother 88-year-old mother Helen died at Scoonie House care home in Leven in May, said it was excellent so many people had received their first dose.
However, he criticised the UK Government for allowing the pandemic to spread while the vaccine was still being developed.
Around 10,000 people have died across the UK since the start of December, bringing the death toll to almost 85,000.
“It’s excellent to hear the vaccine is being rolled out so quickly,” Mr Wightman said.
“It’s certainly light at the end of the tunnel.
“What’s very disappointing however, is the number of deaths we’ve seen in the second and third wave of the virus.”
He added: “The original death toll was bad enough but predictions that it will go above 100,000 shows how poorly the pandemic is being handled in the UK.”
Mr Wightman said people had dropped their guard after being allowed to meet with other households over Christmas.
“There’s a lot of focus on us being the first country to approve the vaccine and roll it out but they’ve encouraged the third wave,” he said.
“We saw a lot of people mixing and we’re now paying the cost.
“Whilst its terrific on the one hand, we didn’t focus on the problem in the interim and the country let its guard down.
“We behaved as if the suffering was done but it wasn’t.”
Mr Wightman is a member of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Group, which is campaigning for a full public inquiry into the handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
