THE First Minister gave an update on Scotland’s latest coronavirus infections, deaths, and vaccination numbers during today’s Scottish Government briefing.
Nicola Sturgeon confirmed this afternoon that a further 830 coronavirus cases had been recorded, at a positivity rate of 4% - the lowest for several weeks.
A further 48 people have also died with the virus, taking the total under the official measurement – where a person dies within 28 days of a positive test – to 6599.
However, there was also positive news as Sturgeon revealed a record-breaking number of people were given their first vaccination in the previous 24 hours.
These were the four key points the First Minister discussed during today’s update.
READ MORE: Another 48 people die after contracting Covid-19 in Scotland
Vaccinations
As of 8.30am today, 1,048,747 people have received their first dose of the vaccine - an increase of 63,178 since yesterday, which is the highest daily total of vaccinations administered.
Sturgeon said: “When you think about the truly dreadful weather most of the country is experiencing right now, which means that many of those administering and receiving the jag will have had to brave extreme elements, I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to describe this as a heroic achievement.
“The fact that more than one million people have now received the first dose of the vaccine is highly significant.
“It means we have now vaccinated more than 23% of the adult population and most of them are in the groups who are most vulnerable to becoming seriously ill and dying form Covid.
“It gives us real hope that even if the vaccine doesn’t have an immediate impact on transmission, we will see it start to reduce serious illness and death.”
Vaccine take-up
First doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have now been administered to 99.9% of residents in older people’s care homes.
At least 97% of over-80s living in the community, and 87% of 75 to 79-year-old living in the community have had their first dose, and 54% of 70 to 74-year-olds.
The First Minister said that the vaccination programme was “on course” to give first doses to everybody over 70 and everyone with a serious clinical vulnerability by the middle of February.
READ MORE: Scotland passes one million milestone for Covid vaccinations
She added: “Many in the 65-69 age group will have also had their first vaccine by that date.
“This is all really positive news – particularly the uptake figures.
“People are coming forward for this in numbers that I could not have dared hope for – in my wildest dreams I would have hoped for it, but I would have been very sceptical.
“That is down to the appetite and the willingness of everybody in these groups to come together for their individual protection but also to play their part in our collective fight against this virus.”
Vaccine supplies
Sturgeon said that Scotland had received lower vaccine stocks than expected, due to a temporary reduction in Pfizer manufacturing capability.
The First Minister said: “By Sunday, we expect to give vaccines to 70,000 more people than we originally anticipated in the deployment plan.
“This is due to the higher vaccine take-up rates than we had anticipated.
“These two factors combined with the need to preserve some stocks for second doses, mean we have to insure we don’t schedule more appointments than our vaccine supplies allow.”
Sturgeon said that this might result in a reduction of appointments that can be scheduled.
However, she added that if vaccine supplies increase in that time, they would “very rapidly” be able to accelerate the programme again.
She said that Scotland is still on track to meet all targets set out – including that all over-50s should expect to receive their first dose by mid-May.
Hospital admissions and the R number
The number of people in Scottish hospitals with coronavirus has fallen back below the peak in the first months of the pandemic, Sturgeon said.
The First Minister said 1499 people are currently in hospital with the virus – down 43 in 24 hours.
Meanwhile, she gave an update on the R number. The First Minister told viewers that the current R rate in Scotland was below 1.0.
Sturgeon said: “That is reflected in the decline in case numbers, in test positivity – the 4% test positivity we’ve reported today is the lowest in quite some time."
She added that lockdown was working and having an impact on slowing the transmission of the virus.
However she went on to say that the situation "remains precarious and demands from all of us continued caution".
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