Nicola Sturgeon says thanks to the vaccination programme there has been a reduction in hospitalisations, and Scotland is in a "much better place"
The number of new positive cases stands at 1,044 (5.6% of all cases); there are 472 hospital cases (three down) and of those 63 are in ICU (down two). Seven further deaths are recorded
The first minister reiterates her call for unvaccinated adults to get jabbed and makes a particular appeal to pregnant women
Scotland has now reached a vaccination milestone - 4,000,653 have had a first dose Covid jab
Ms Sturgeon notes it would be a "very controversial thing" to go against advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JVCI) and immunise 12 to 17-year-olds
She went on to say that Scotland's Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith was writing to the JVCI to seek more guidance and point out that the school year starts earlier north of the border
Scotland's National Clinical Director Prof Jason Leitch says there will be future virus waves, but lockdowns will not be the way to react to them
Ms Sturgeon says more than 4,000 pregnant women in Scotland have received the vaccine, as well as thousands across the world.
She adds: "The evidence of its safety is overwhelming".
The first minister says further information is available from the Public Health Scotland, external website and also from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Image source, Getty ImagesThe first minister says the Scottish government, in line with the UK's Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, is "strongly recommending" that pregnant women get the jab as soon as they are asked to do so.
She adds: "Vaccination is the best way of protecting against the risks of Covid in pregnancy and these include the admission of the mother to intensive care and also the possible premature birth of the baby."
Image source, Getty ImagesFirst Minister Nicola Sturgeon says the uptake figures for the vaccination programme are "quite extraordinary"
But Ms Sturgeon says there is no room for complacency and she wants to see "as close to 100% of the eligible population vaccinated as we can get".
As of 08:30 this morning, 4,000,653 people in Scotland had received their first dose of the vaccine, an increase of 2,031 since yesterday.
In addition, 3,108,928 have received their second dose, an increase of 16,826.
Ms Sturgeon says 90% of al adults in Scotland have now had their first jab and 70% have had both jabs.
Nicola Sturgeon begins with an update of the latest coronavirus figures.
The first minister confirms that a further 1,044 people have tested positive for Covid – which is 5.6% of the tests carried out yesterday.
The FM says that is the lowest daily test positivity rate since 19 June.
This takes the total number of positive cases in Scotland to 342,059.
There are 472 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19, a decrease of three, and 63 in intensive care, down two from yesterday.
There have also been seven more deaths recorded in the past 24 hours of people who tested positive in the previous 28 days.
That brings the total number of deaths by that measurement to 7,866.
Image source, Getty ImagesWho thought we would be here, now?
Like Olympic gold medallists, Tom Daley and Matty Lee, Covid cases in the UK are taking a spectacular dive.
The number of confirmed daily cases has fallen for six days in a row - now standing at 24,950.
It's little over a week since there were warnings we could reach 100,000 or even 200,000 cases a day. And unlike the previous two waves of Covid, it is happening without a national lockdown. Instead, we're opening up.
The turnaround is as surprising as it is welcome.
So is it really happening? Has the third wave of Covid turned the corner in the UK? And does it mean we can think about life getting back to normal?
Image source, Getty ImagesPeople who were advised to shield during the first wave of the pandemic were eight times more likely to get Covid-19, a study has suggested.
These people were also five times more likely to die from the virus.
The study examined the outcomes for patients advised to shield in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) between March and May last year.
Prof Jill Penn, one of the authors, said the measure may have had "limited value" in reducing NHS workload.
The study was led by the University of Glasgow and published in the journal Scientific Reports, external on Tuesday.
Image source, Getty ImagesGood afternoon. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will be holding the Scottish government's latest briefing on coronavirus at 2pm and will be joined by national clinical director Jason Leitch.
You can follow this on the BBC Scotland channel or via the live stream of the whole briefing using the tabs above.