Covid in Scotland: Record day for booster vaccines

The Scottish government says it wants to deliver 70,000 booster shots a day

A record number of booster jabs were given in Scotland on Tuesday, according to Public Health Scotland figures.

Almost 55,000 boosters were administered, bringing the total number to 2,254,406.

However, the figure is still short of the 70,000 boosters a day target set by Health Secretary Humza Yousaf.

A speedy booster programme is considered vital in tackling the threat of the Omicron variant, which is much more infectious than other strains.

A request for military personnel to help Scotland's vaccination programme has now been approved, the Scottish government has confirmed.

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An additional 100 military vaccinators will join 100 existing staff and begin delivering vaccinations from next week.

Mr Yousaf said demand for boosters meant people might have to queue at drop-in centres, but urged "everyone to be patient".

"The emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 is adding to the winter pressures usually faced by the NHS," he said.

"Which is why we have again requested military support to complement our existing resources and ensure we can get vaccinations into arms as quickly as possible."

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Scotland the Scottish government needed to do "everything necessary" to accelerate the booster programme.

"We know from the early data around Omicron being boosted gives you much much more protection against infection, which is why the focus is getting the booster programme rolled out as quickly as possible," she said.

"Yesterday we did about 45,000, today it's over 54,000 so its going up all the time. Yes we need to do more - part of that is about shifting focus from the remainder of the flu campaign because the highest risk groups are already vaccinated there."

Similar surge

The Scottish government is aiming to offer all eligible adults a booster by the end of the month and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set the same target for England.

The last time Scotland saw a similar surge in the number of daily vaccinations was in February, when the focus of the programme was on first doses.

A total of 58,267 vaccines were administered on Tuesday, almost 9,000 more than the previous day.

There have only been four other days since the start of the programme when more jabs were given.

UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said a record number of boosters was also delivered across the UK on Tuesday.

There were 4,252 confirmed, probable or possible cases of the Omicron variant in Scotland as of 12 December, a Public Health Scotland report shows.

Cases have also now spread to all 14 of Scotland's health board areas.

It is thought that Omicron will replace Delta as the dominant variant in Scotland in the coming weeks.

An increasing proportion of cases with "S-gene dropout" have been detected in Scotland since last month.

The S-gene dropout can be detected by analysing a PCR test and is considered a good indication the case is caused by the new strain.

This characteristic accounted for 0.2% of cases on 27 November, but has now risen to 22.6%.

Total cases have now been rising in Scotland since the end of November after a relatively long period of stability, with particularly sharp increases recorded in recent days.

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