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Sturgeon defends vaccination progress and says Army always involved in roll out

The army erecting a tent for Covid-19 testing in Coupar Angus.
The army erecting a tent for Covid-19 testing in Coupar Angus.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has defended the country’s vaccination rate.

Speaking during the televised briefing, Ms Sturgeon said she is hopeful every adult in the country will have been given their first dose of vaccine by September.

So far 264,991 Scots have been given their first of the two injections.

It is understood 700,000 doses have been delivered to Scotland as of Monday afternoon.

The UK Government has said it will have all eligible adults jabbed at least once in the same timescale, with Ms Sturgeon saying she is “broadly of the same aspiration”.

Armed forces personnel from Leuchars Station have been brought in to help local authorities, NHS boards and the Scottish Government identify suitable sites for large-scale vaccinations.

The Army will find and organise the locations, before setting them up and handing them over to the NHS by the end of the week.

‘Straggling off the pace’

The Scottish Conservatives had said the delivery was slowing down, with health spokesperson Donald Cameron suggesting the military had been brought in to “boost” the roll out because “the SNP are straggling off the pace”.

He said 13,384 people received their first dose of the vaccine per day over the weekend, compared to more than 16,000 in the previous three days.

The BMA said vaccine distribution had been “patchy” and some practices were unable to invite patients for inoculations because they could not guarantee there would be enough.

When asked how involved she had been as first minister with the decision to bring in Army logistics specialists, Nicola Sturgeon said: “I tend to be involved, to a greater or less extent, in all of these decisions.

“But, you know, clearly decisions are made at different levels, but I take responsibility for everything, whether I always like it or not.

Sturgeon vaccination
The Army was involved at the 2 Sisters chicken processing site outbreak clear up.

“To answer your question about the Army, they have been involved in different points of our pandemic response all along. This is not as simple or a case of suddenly involving the Army.

“The Army were based in this building for a quite significant time period last year, so we call on them when we think they have the particular expertise to help with particular tasks.

“We are really grateful to them for that.”

Speed of vaccination programme

Ms Sturgeon’s cabinet will meet on Tuesday morning ahead of an address to Holyrood on how the current lockdown restrictions are working.

A total of 1,429 positive coronavirus tests have been recorded in the past 24 hours, the latest figures show.

No deaths were recorded in Scotland in the last 24 hours, but Ms Sturgeon acknowledged this could be a result of registration office opening hours over the weekend.

More people are in hospital, however, than at any point in the pandemic.

Even if every adult is given a dose of vaccination, other measures including transmissibility and infection rate could still dictate how restricted the country remains.

Ms Sturgeon added: “Clearly the speed and the pace of the vaccination programme is important as we try to get back to normality.

“I think it is too simplistic to say it is one of the only things that is not yet known is the extent the vaccine stops people from getting and transmitting the virus. It stops people from becoming seriously ill.

“There is no doubt the more people we get vaccinated, the greater the chance of us restoring some normality to life, although the virus will not have suddenly disappeared.”