• Nicola Sturgeon confirms that there will be 500,000 fewer doses of the Covid-19 vaccine in the coming month
• As a result, the first minister says there will be periods in April when second doses will have to be prioritised
• But first doses for the nine priority groups should still be achieved by mid-April, and all adults by the end of July
• A further 624 people have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 2.7% of the tests carried out yesterday.
• There are 405 people in hospital with recently-confirmed Covid-19, a decrease of 17, and 38 in intensive care

• An additional seven deaths were reported in the past 24 hours of people who tested positive in the last 28 days, taking the total by that measurement to 7,536.
• As of 08:30 this morning a total of 2,023,002 had received their first dose of the vaccine, with 51,405 people receiving either a first or second dose yesterday.
• Ms Sturgeon refutes allegations that a legal document was deliberately withdrawn from being handed over to a court by government officials in the Alex Salmond affair, saying "it didn't happen"
• The first minister says David Davis MP should apologise for making "serious, specific allegations" in the House of Commons, calling the former home secretary "shifty"
• Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar says nearly 25,000 calls to the NHS24 mental health crisis hub have gone unanswered during the pandemic

That's all from us on the live page today. Join us again on Friday for the government's latest coronavirus briefing.

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie challenges Nicola Sturgeon on the number of teachers employed on casual, short-term and zero-hours contracts.

He says thousands of teachers are employed in this way and they are desperate for some certainty and permanent work.

He says that last July, Education Secretary John Swinney promised an answer to the issue but that they are still waiting.

Mr Rennie says some are thinking of leaving the profession and asks if the first minister believes this is treating teachers with respect.

Ms Sturgeon does not see any reason why teachers are in that position. She says local authorities employ teachers, not the government.

And that as a result of the pandemic, the Scottish government provided additional funding to support the recruitment of more teachers, plus another £45m in January for education recovery to allow authorities to fund schools and recruit staff if they wish to.

She says there is no reason for the situation with record numbers of teachers currently working in Scotland.

Patrick Harvie, for the Scottish Greens, talks about the need for a "green recovery" and says the climate emergency demands more.

He says we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground, and asks why the first minister has resisted moving to end licencing for new exploration in the North Sea, revoke undeveloped licenses or redirect fossil fuel tax breaks to renewables.

The first minister says many of these powers are reserved to Westminster.

She says she wants to see the transition to renewable energy but it must be done in a way that supports jobs. The FM says there is no disagreement about what to do, but how it is done.

Image source, Getty Images

Anas Sarwar says 24,947 mental health crisis calls where individuals "have built up the courage to call for help" went ignored.

He says Scottish Labour will publish data later today which shows a steady increase in waiting times and abandoned calls.

In March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, 133 calls went unanswered, Mr Sarwar says. That number was 5,452 in the last available month, which is 40 times higher, he says.

He says it is the same story with children's and young adolescent services and asks when was the last time the 18-week target for those referred was met?

Nicola Sturgeon says the government takes its responsibility seriously and it has expanded the range of different services.

It has embarked on a "significant programme of investment and reform" to make sure there is more focus on early intervention, says the first minister, who adds there has been an improvement in waiting time figures in this quarter compared to the previous one.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar highlights the "devastating impact on mental health" the pandemic has had on young people in Scotland

He points to a recent report that said more than one in eight Scots had reported suicidal thoughts and for people with a pre-existing mental health condition, it was more than one in three.

The last annual figure of 833 suicide deaths in a single year is expected to rise, he says, and asks if the first minister can tell us how many calls to the NHS24 mental health crisis hub have gone unanswered during the pandemic.

Image source, newscast online

Ms Sturgeon says she doesn't have that figure to hand, but any call that goes unanswered is unacceptable.

The first minister says that NHS24 staff do an outstanding job and it is important to recognise that, while acknowledging the impact of the pandemic on mental health has been "severe and significant".

The obligation on government and health services in the months and years to come will also be very significant, she adds, highlighting the government's third annual report on mental health strategy published this week.

The government has achieved its target of investing £60m to give every secondary school access to services, she says, as well as a “whole host of other actions”.

Finally, Ruth Davidson claims that the circumstances demand that someone loses their job over this - the permanent secretary, the chief of staff or the first minister herself, but suggests "shouldn't it be all of them?".

Nicola Sturgeon says in a few weeks' time she will put herself in front of the verdict of the voters, something Ruth Davidson is "running away from".

She says that it is "about time Ruth Davidson started listening to the women at the heart of this and less to Alex Salmond and his cronies".

Image source, Getty Images

Ms Davidson comes back, saying the first minister attended a meeting on 13 November 2018 with legal counsel about the Alex Salmond inquiry and claims all records of this meeting had "vanished or been destroyed".

She asks if the first minister is trying to say it is "not a cover-up" and that much would still be secret "but for the threat of John Swinney losing his job".

Ms Sturgeon criticises Ms Davidson, saying she is becoming "more desperate" and is "dredging the bottom of the barrel" for conspiracy theories.

She admits a mistake was made and that she "regrets it deeply" but that it was a mistake made in the course of the government trying to do the right thing.

She says scrutiny of the government is vital and important but "every time it crosses over into buying into Alex Salmond's conspiracy theories, politicians shouldn't pretend they are standing up for the women at the heart of the issue."

She says she is determined to learn lessons from the affair.

Ruth Davidson continues to question the first minister about the Alex Salmond inquiry, asking why "did the government go ahead with an attempt at a cover-up?"

Nicola Sturgeon responds by pointing out "how quickly" Ms Davidson has "moved on" from her first question.

The first minister says people don't have to take Ruth Davidson's word anymore, or the "old boys' club in the House of Commons". They can go onto the Scottish government's website and read the legal advice for themselves and make up their own minds, she adds

"David Davis made serious, specific allegations in the House of Commons this week and they have completely fallen apart," says Ms Sturgeon, who adds she thinks that is something Mr Davis should apologise for.

Ruth Davidson is first up for the Conservatives and goes straight to the Alex Salmond inquiry.

She says the first minister refused to "address the substance but claimed to refute the allegations". She goes on to ask the same question journalists asked on Wednesday:

"It is alleged that a legal document had been deliberately withdrawn from being handed over to a court by government officials - is that something the first minister knows happened and is it not a summary dismissal offence?"

Nicola Sturgeon says it "didn't happen".

She says the document in question was not withheld, but handed over to the court on 21 November 2018.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Before she moves on to questions, the first minister addresses reports of interrupted supplies to vaccines in April.

She says she has had talks with both Pfizer and AstraZeneca and she expects 500,000 fewer doses to be available than previously anticipated.

As a result of this, Ms Sturgeon says there will be periods in April when second doses will have to be prioritised.

She still expects to offer first doses to the remaining JCVI priority groups by the middle of April as planned.

The first dose will also still be offered to all adults by the end of July.

The first minister says the rollout is still "encouraging".

Ms Sturgeon says the latest estimate of the R number will be published later today, which she expects to be around or just below 1.

In terms of the vaccine programme, as of 08:30 this morning a total of 2,023,002 had received their first dose of the vaccine, an increase of 41,184.

192,100 people have so far received a second dose of the vaccine, an increase of 10,221 since yesterday.

That means 51,405 received vaccinations yesterday.

Nicola Sturgeon begins her update by outlining the latest figures.

The first minister confirms a further 624 people have tested positive for Covid-19, which is 2.7% of the tests carried out yesterday.

This takes the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 211,854.

There are 405 people in hospital with recently-confirmed Covid-19, a decrease of 17, and 38 in intensive care, which is the same as yesterday.

An additional seven deaths were reported in the past 24 hours of people who tested positive in the last 28 days, taking the total by that measurement to 7,536.

The latest National Records of Scotland figures show that 9,831 deaths have been registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate up to 14 March.

Image source, PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon will begin her update to the Scottish parliament imminently before fielding questions from opposition leaders and MSPs.

You can follow proceedings right here on this live page or watch or listen by clicking one of the tabs above for BBC One Scotland, the BBC Scotland Channel or Radio Scotland.

Stay with us...

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Nicola Sturgeon is likely to face questions on the allegations made by a Conservative MP as she leads First Minister's Questions.

On Wednesday she "strongly refuted" allegations by David Davis about her government's handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.

Former Brexit secretary David Davis used parliamentary privilege to claim there was a concerted effort in the SNP to encourage women to make complaints.

The first minister rejected this as "the latest instalment in Alex Salmond's conspiracy theory".

Ms Sturgeon was repeatedly asked about the row at her Covid-19 briefing yesterday, but said she did not want it to be "sidetracked" from health matters.

MSPs are likely to use the opportunity to bring up the subject once more.

Read what happened

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Scotland’s national clinical director says the current vaccine supply issue facing the UK shouldn’t affect overall targets.

Professor Jason Leitch was speaking to MSPs on the Scottish parliament’s Covid-19 committee this morning.

He said the top nine groups - which includes the over-50s - should still receive their first dose by mid-April, and the rest of the population by July.

He also said second doses shouldn’t be affected and maintained overall supply should not change.

The issue came about after a shipment of 5m doses from India was delayed.

“Our present understanding is we can still meet the mid-April offer to give everybody in the top nine groups a vaccine, a first dose, and we can still meet our end of July target for the whole adult population," Prof Leitch said.

"But it will inevitably mean after the top nine groups, we will just have to think about who comes next and when.”

Image source, Getty Images

The Scottish government is "seeking clarity" from the UK Vaccine Taskforce on future Covid-19 supplies.

It comes as UK ministers faced calls to explain why there would be a significant reduction in incoming vaccines from the end of March.

The expected reduction is partly due to a delay in a delivery from India of five million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses.

The UK government said neither a single factory nor a country was responsible for the expected slow down.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told the BBC that UK supplies would be lower "than we might have hoped for in the coming weeks", but this was expect to increase in April.

Scotland's national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch was to be asked about the shortfall when he appeared before Holyrood's Covid-19 committee, and said he didn't expect the issue to affect overall targets.

Read more

• The Scottish government is "seeking clarity" from the UK Vaccine Taskforce on future Covid-19 supplies, after forecasts of a significant reduction in incoming vaccines from the end of March.
• Scotland’s national clinical director Jason Leitch says the vaccine supply issue facing the UK shouldn’t affect overall targets.
• He said the top nine groups - which includes the over-50s - should still receive their first dose by mid-April, and the rest of the population by July.
• More than two million people in Scotland have now received their first dose of the Covid vaccine.
• Police dispersed a large crowd which gathered in Glasgow's Kelvingrove Park on Wednesday, in breach of Covid rules
• Nicola Sturgeon has said she "strongly refutes" allegations by a Conservative MP about her government's handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.

Image source, PA Media

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC Scotland's rolling coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland this Thursday, 18 March 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon will be giving an update to the Scottish parliament in Holyrood from 12:30 and then face questions from opposition leaders and MSPs.

She is likely to be asked about how a significant reduction in incoming vaccines from the end of March could affect Scotland, as well as further questions about allegations made by Conservative MP David Davis about her government's handling of complaints against Alex Salmond.

You can follow the latest developments right here and watch or listen live by clicking on one of the tabs above - for coverage on BBC One Scotland, the BBC Scotland channel or BBC Radio Scotland.