NICOLA Sturgeon has been told there are “no excuses” to refuse to publish daily Covid-19 vaccination figures after the UK Government agreed it will make daily numbers available for the jags.
Yesterday, Boris Johnson committed to publishing daily figures of how many people have been vaccinated against coronavirus from Monday – as he announced that 1.3 million people across the UK have so far received the jag.
Mr Johnson said the daily figures will allow the public to “see day by day and jab by jab how much progress we are making".
We have now vaccinated over 1.3 million people across the UK.
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) January 5, 2021
We’re focusing our efforts on protecting the most vulnerable, reducing hospitalisations and saving lives. pic.twitter.com/AY9hZEFCtx
But the First Minister has not committed to publishing daily figures, although she said officials will investigate whether numbers can be published more regularly than the current weekly schedule.
When asked about the issue of daily jag statistics at her daily coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon said she was “not going to commit to that right now”.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: All Scots over 50 to receive vaccine by spring
She said: “We will give as much information as regularly and as fully as possible.
“Right now, we are publishing weekly information on the numbers vaccinated. We are going to try and make that weekly information more detailed – in terms of the regional breakdown, the breakdown of the different groups of people vaccinated.”
She added: “We will consider going to a publication schedule that is more frequent than once a week.
“Right now, I want everybody working in our vaccination teams to be focused on getting this programme up and running, gathering pace and getting vaccines into people’s arms.
“There will always s be a judgement – is daily publication adding so much benefit to the transparency and the ability of people to look at this that it justifies the burden on people of gathering that data and publishing that data.
“If the answer to that is yes, we will do that but if the answer to that is no – weekly or biweekly may give us and the public and the media what they need, in a way that is less burdensome to the people who are already under a lot of pressure, we will do that as well.”
READ MORE: Glasgow NHS staff forced to wait hours for Covid-19 vaccine
Earlier this week, the Scottish Conservatives called for the Scottish Government to publish daily vaccination figures and now believe the SNP has no option but to do so, following the Prime Minister’s commitment.
Scottish Tory leader, Douglas Ross, also called for better communication for those set to receive the vaccine after it was reported NHS staff were stranded for hours in the cold waiting for the jab.
He said: “There are now no excuses left for the SNP Government to dodge publishing daily vaccination rates alongside the daily infection numbers as soon as possible.
“The SNP’s evasion to try and avoid scrutiny is nothing new but on something so important, the Scottish public must have the same information as will be provided across the UK.”
Mr Ross added: “People need to be given hope. A breakdown each day on the vaccination figures, along with the dosages received by the Scottish Government, will show an end to the pandemic is in sight and provide much needed transparency.
“Reports of NHS staff having to wait hours in freezing conditions for the vaccine are also very concerning and must be investigated immediately. The incident shows why it’s vital the SNP start communicating clearly who will receive the vaccine and when.”
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