Covid in Scotland: First care home resident receives vaccine

A 90-year-old woman in South Lanarkshire has become the first care home resident to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine.

Former carer Annie Innes was immunised at Abercorn House in Hamilton.

Care home residents across Scotland have been prioritised to receive the vaccine, along with frontline health care staff.

Ms Innes told reporters it was "wonderful" to get the vaccine just before Christmas.

"I hope it keeps me, my friends here and the staff safe and means we can get back to normal very soon," she said.

She added: "The nurses and the care home staff have been great with us and we are relieved to have been offered the vaccine."

Health Secretary Jeane Freeman thanked those involved in rolling out the vaccine programme.

"It has been a challenge to get the Pfizer vaccine into care homes because of transport and storage requirements but I am delighted to see Mrs Innes become the first care home resident to receive her vaccine and I wish her many more years of good health," she said.

"Throughout the pandemic our priority has been to save lives and keep people safe. Vaccines give us a vital additional layer of protection we haven't had until now."

The second person vaccinated at the care home was 82-year-old Margaret Keating, a former bar tender who has been a resident at Abercorn House for a year.

Residents and members of staff at Abercorn House will receive the vital second dose of the vaccine in the new year.

Trudi Marshall, nurse director with health and social care North Lanarkshire, who is managing care home vaccination across the region, said they would be able to vaccinate 2,990 care home residents and 5,601 staff across 93 Lanarkshire care homes in the "quick moving and complex operation".

"It's important to recognise just how much work our staff have put in to the process in such a short time," she said. "Care home staff and managers also deserve praise for their fantastic co-operation and help."

There were initial fears that care homes would not be able to receive the first batch of the drug because of logistical issues associated with its storage at -70C.

More than 65,000 doses have been distributed to vaccination centres across Scotland where they have been "packed down" before being diluted for use in care homes.

So far more than 5,000 frontline NHS staff and vaccinators have been given the first of two injections of the drug, which cuts cases of Covid by about 95%.

The vaccination programme is beginning after the most recent official weekly figures showed there have been 78 deaths in care homes in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Donald Macaskill, the chief executive of Scottish Care, which represents care homes in Scotland, said there were about 50,000 adults in care homes in Scotland and that prioritising those most in need was key.

But he warned the vaccine rollout would be a slow process.

Speaking to BBC Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme, he said: "This is an tremendously important and positive day for residents, for their family members and also for staff.

"We've had nine months of sheer hell and distress across Scotland's care home sector. This virus has hit the most vulnerable the hardest, and those sadly are individuals in our care homes.

"So this really is the beginning of turning a corner."

Alison Strath, the Scottish government's interim chief pharmaceutical officer had worked "tirelessly" with the care home sector to ensure Scotland could be the first country where the vaccine could be taken to residents, he said.

"It is an amazing achievement in such a short space of time, but it will take a long time," Dr Macaskill said.

He added: "Practically, we need to work with the fact that we have a supply which is the first phase supply and we need to prioritise those most at risk."

Along with rapid testing, which has begun in some care homes and is also being rolled out across the country from Monday, the vaccines would allow visits to residents to begin to return to normal, he said.