Covid in Scotland: Deaths up by 68 as 33,000 more people get vaccine
- Published
The deaths of a further 68 people who tested positive for Covid have been recorded in Scotland in the past 24 hours.
It comes as official figures show 33,381 people received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine in the week to 27 December.
That takes the total number of people to get a vaccine in Scotland since 8 December to 92,188.
Patients in hospital with coronavirus rose from 1,347 on Tuesday to 1,384.
Hospital admissions have been rising sharply but are still 136 short of the peak figure of 1,520 recorded on 20 April last year.
The latest statistics show 2,039 new cases of the virus, which is 10.5% of those recently tested, a slightly lower figure than in recent days.
A total of 95 people are in intensive care - a slight increase but significantly lower than the April peak of 208.
Health officials have expressed concern about the situation in Inverclyde, Dumfries & Galloway and the Scottish Borders, in particular, which have seen sharp rises in positive tests.
Weekly figures show Inverclyde recorded 538.5 cases per 100,000, Dumfries & Galloway 538.1 and the Scottish Borders 435.5.
There were a further 603 confirmed coronavirus cases in the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde area in the past 24 hours, with an additional 296 in NHS Lanarkshire, 206 in NHS Grampian and 164 in the NHS Lothian area.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 141,066 cases in Scotland, with a total of 4,701 people dying within 28 days of first testing positive.
The latest vaccine figures were released after doctors in Scotland raised concerns about plans to delay the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
All four UK nations will now leave up to 12 weeks between the first and second doses of the jab rather than giving both within 21 days.
Dr Lewis Morrison, head of the BMA in Scotland, said members had concerns about the potential impact of leaving such a big gap between the two doses.
But the UK's chief medical officers have defended the move, saying the first dose will give people substantial protection against the virus within two to three weeks.
