Drop-in vaccination clinics to open across mainland Scotland

Drop-in Covid vaccination clinics are to be opened in all areas of mainland Scotland from Monday.

Each health board will offer first doses without an appointment to people aged 18 or over.

Second doses will be available for those who received their first injection at least eight weeks earlier.

The latest figures released on Friday showed that 3,823 new coronavirus cases have been recorded in the last 24 hours, and four additional deaths.

On Thursday, the number of daily cases reported in Scotland surpassed 4,000 for the first time - although that fell to 3,823 on Friday - as the virus surges across the country.

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics said that Scotland continued to have the highest Covid rate in the UK last week, with about one in every 150 people thought to have the virus.

This equates to about 35,900 people.

The figure for England was one in 260 people, while in Wales it was one in every 450 people, and in Northern Ireland one in every 670.

Concerns have been raised about the length of time it is taking for contact tracers to get in touch with people who test positive in Scotland - with the country's national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch admitting the system was "straining" under the pressure of the high case load.

Scottish Labour has said the country's vaccination programme appeared to slow last month - particularly in areas where the cases are highest - and questioned why it has taken Scotland so long to follow England in introducing walk-in vaccine centres for all adults.

The Scottish government hopes the drop-in clinics will make it easier for people to get the jab, which is helping to limit the number of people falling seriously ill and dying despite the spike in cases.

Mobile vaccination units, run by the Scottish Ambulance Service, will also be operating for two weeks in locations including city centre transport hubs and shopping centres.

The locations of the drop-in clinics and mobile units will be made available on NHS health board websites, as well as the NHS Inform website.

People can also use the NHS Inform site to rearrange the time or location of a vaccination appointment if, for example, it is more convenient for them to be vaccinated closer to their work than their home.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the drop-in centres could be used by people who already have an appointment scheduled in the future, or those who have missed an appointment.

More than 3.8 million people in Scotland have had at least one vaccine dose, while more than 2.7 million have had both doses.

Ms Sturgeon said more than 60% of those eligible for the vaccine have now had both doses, and that more than 50% of the entire population was now fully vaccinated.

"That is an important milestone and one that will be increasing our levels of protection against this virus," she said.

The aim is for everyone over the age of 18 to have had their first shot by 18 July.

Plans are also been drawn up to give people over the age of 50 booster shots in the autumn.

The first minister said the "surge in new cases" was being led by the more contagious Delta variant, which was first identified in India.

Ms Sturgeon said the vaccines were now doing much of the work lockdown did previously.

But she warned: "All of us do still need to play a part over and above vaccination to make sure that we get through this next period as safely as possible.

"The rising cases is a reminder that we still need to be cautious, this variant of the virus is spreading quickly, we know that Covid is potentially dangerous.

"No vaccine is 100% effective but these ones are very effective after two doses, so even if you still get the virus, your chances of becoming very ill with it are much reduced."

The Scottish Conservatives' health spokeswoman, Annie Wells, welcomed the success of the vaccination programme and urged people to get their second dose as soon as possible.

Ms Wells said the public want the vaccine roll-out and contact tracing system to "work even faster" amid rising cases, to drive case numbers back down.

Scottish Labour said the party had been calling for walk-in vaccination centres for weeks and it welcomed the rollout.

"Given that vaccination rates were slowing down instead of ramping up, this is not before time," the party's health spokeswoman, Jackie Baillie, said.