Alister Jack offers Nicola Sturgeon UK Government support for vaccine rollout amid complaints over delays
In a public letter addressed to Ms Sturgeon, Mr Jack said: “Our joint mission to vaccinate the people of the United Kingdom is the most important peacetime endeavour this country has ever undertaken.”
He went on to say that it “is essential” that all parts of the UK fight the pandemic “together” to help accelerate the easing of restrictions for the country as a whole.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad"As we have agreed previously, there are significant advantages to moving in lockstep on major decisions,” he said.
"I strongly believe that to put the nightmare of COVID-19 behind us as quickly as possible, we must collaborate as closely as possible."
It comes after the First Minister was accused of overseeing a "slow and stuttering" Covid-19 vaccination programme that was "lagging way behind the rest of the UK".
A total of 610,778 people in Scotland have received the first dose of a vaccine, out of an adult population of 4.4 million, which is 13.8 per cent.
By contrast, 18.9 per cent of adults in England have been given a jab, compared with 17.4 per cent in Wales and 16.1 per cent in Northern Ireland.
During a session in Parliament Ms Sturgeon stressed that the country is “on track” with its vaccination programme.
Yet Conservative MP Ruth Davidson said on Sunday: "Scotland saw the lowest number of jabs administered since the start of the mass rollout over a month ago
“At the moment, all the evidence shows the Scottish government's rollout is slow, stuttering and lagging way behind the rest of the UK."
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAt Holyrood, Jeanne Freeman, the Scottish Health Secretary, admitted the vaccination programme needed to speed up across the country.
Asked why the rollout in Scotland was falling behind the other UK nations she said: “I do believe that we need to vaccinate faster in Scotland than we have been doing and the plans that are in place from this week onwards significantly increase those numbers.”
A message from the Editor:
Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by Coronavirus impacts our advertisers.
If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.