An scientific expert has said she would 'jump the queue' to get the coronavirus vaccine if she was able to.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman has already revealed the first vaccinations in Scotland could take place in December.
Dame Anne Glover, a former chief scientific adviser to the Scottish Government, said she wished she could be among the first to get the injection.
Speaking at a fringe event at the SNP annual conference, she said: “By nature I am not a queue jumper, but if I could queue-jump for the vaccine I would be at the top of the queue.”
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Dame Anne was the first-ever chief scientific adviser to Scotland, before later taking on a similar role advising the president of the European Commission.
She is currently president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is also a special adviser to the principal of the University of Strathclyde.
Many vaccines are in development
While some have expressed safety fears about the newly-developed Covid-19 vaccine, Dame Anne insisted it was “as safe as any other procedure or drug that you would take”.
She said: “Nothing in life is safe, we all know that. If I go out for a walk, a car could jump the pavement and knock me over.
“But the vaccines, and I hear people a lot saying ‘these have been rushed through, are they going to be as safe?’ and I think it is probably a lack of appreciation as to what has happened in the attempt to be able to develop vaccines.
“Everything else has stopped and had a back seat, and the entire focus of research groups as well as pharmaceutical companies has been directed to this.
“It’s like if there is normally one out of 10 people working on something and it takes 10 years, this is an example of 10 out 10 people working on something and it takes one year.
“I think with the clinical trials that have been done, the vaccine is as safe as any other procedure or drug that you would take.”
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She said she was “incredibly proud but not surprised by how the scientific community has responded to Covid-19”.
She added: “Unfortunately I won’t be at the top of the queue, but I really like the prioritisation of the elderly, care home people, care home staff, NHS workers, then just moving down the age spectrum after that.”
Under the Scottish Government’s plans the first phase of vaccines will be offered to frontline health and social care workers, care home residents and staff, those over 80 and people delivering the vaccination programme.
Over-65s and those at “additional clinical risk” are next in line to be prioritised for vaccination, based on the current Joint Committee for Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) guidance.
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