Covid in Scotland: First doses of Oxford vaccine administered

The first Scottish recipients of the new Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine have received their jabs.

James Shaw, 82, and his 82-year-old wife Malita were among the first to be vaccinated in Dundee.

The couple received their first doses at Lochee Health and Community Care Centre.

Nicola Sturgeon has said she hoped all over-50s and those with underlying health conditions will have been vaccinated by early May.

James said: "My wife and I are delighted to be receiving this vaccination. I have asthma and bronchitis and I have been desperate to have it so I am really pleased to be one of the first to be getting it.

"I know it takes a little while for the vaccine to work but after today I know that I will feel a bit less worried about going out. I will still be very careful and avoid busy places but knowing I have been vaccinated will really help me.

"All of my friends have said they are going to have the vaccine when it is their turn and I would encourage everyone who is offered this vaccination to take it."

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine programme is being rolled out less than a week after it was approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). It is the second vaccine approved for use in the UK.

NHS Tayside is rolling out the vaccine through GP practices in the community and will also vaccinate elderly residents and staff in care homes.

Its associate director of public health Dr Daniel Chandleris said: "The efforts of our vaccination teams have been amazing and it is testament to a real whole team approach that sees the first over-80s in the general population have their jabs today in Tayside.

"The availability and mobility of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine gives us the opportunity to start to roll out the biggest vaccine programme that the UK has ever seen across our communities.

"Over-80s are the first priority group and patients will be contacted directly to attend a vaccination session."

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack added: "This is another important moment in our fight against the virus - every vaccination takes us a step closer to getting back to our normal lives as soon as possible.

"As with the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, the UK is the first country in the world to approve and roll out the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, with the UK Government ordering and paying for millions of doses for people in all parts of the UK."

The milestone came as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced a new stricter lockdown.

With the exception of essential travel, people in mainland Scotland will have to remain at home from midnight.

Statistics released on Monday showed a further 1,905 people had contracted Covid-19.

Figures for hospital admissions and deaths over the holiday weekend will not be published until Tuesday.

Ms Sturgeon likened the situation to a race between the vaccine and the virus.

She said: "In one lane we have vaccines - our job is to make sure they run as fast as possible.

"But in the other lane is the virus which - as a result of this new variant - has just learned to run much faster and has most definitely picked up pace in the last couple of weeks.

"To ensure that the vaccine wins the race, it is essential to speed up vaccination as far as possible. But to give it the time it needs to get ahead, we must also slow the virus down."

The new vaccine will initially be available in the hospitals that have been delivering the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine, and new community settings will be able to deliver the jabs from 11 January.

People in Scotland will be contacted by their health board when it is their turn to be vaccinated.

The Oxford vaccination marks a major turning point in the pandemic and will lead to a massive expansion in the UK's immunisation campaign, with enough to vaccinate 50 million people throughout the UK already on order.

It is easier to transport and store than the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which needs cold storage of about -70C.

The UK government has said 530,000 doses of the Oxford vaccine will be available to the UK from Monday, with "millions due by the beginning of February".

Scotland will ultimately get an 8.2% share of these vaccines, based on its population.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Gregor Smith has said he expects the NHS in Scotland to receive 440,360 doses of the vaccine during January.

The first minister said on Monday about 100,000 people in Scotland have already received a first dose of vaccine.

Both vaccines require two doses to be administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks.

Previously the advice was for the vaccines to have a four-week gap between doses.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) then recommended as many people as possible in the top priority groups should be offered a first dose as the initial priority.