Highlands and Islands MSP, Edward Mountain has praised NHS Highland staff for their work on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, while calling for the SNP to speed the process up.
Edward Mountain MSP was reacting after the latest vaccination figures showed that 11.70% of people in the NHS Highland health board had been vaccinated as of January 242021.
Although the SNP’s vaccine rollout is behind schedule, NHS Highland is currently ahead of other parts of Scotland in the percentage of people who have been vaccinated.
Edward Mountain MSP also reiterated his call that the SNP must urgently distribute supplies of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to the remotest parts of the Highlands & Islands to ensure the over-80s group all receive their first dose by the end of the first week of February.
Edward Mountain MSP says that full praise should go to all NHS staff and volunteers who are working tirelessly to vaccinate the most at risk and vulnerable groups and hopes that the current pace across the region will continue.
Edward Mountain MSP said:
“The vaccination programme is what is giving people living in this region hope right now as our best weapon against the Covid pandemic.
“That is why it is so welcome that NHS Highland staff are going to great lengths to get the vaccine out in the health board.
“My full praise goes to the NHS staff and our volunteers involved in this rollout who are working to protect our most at risk and vulnerable residents.
“However, the SNP must now step up the vaccine rollout and get back on target right across Scotland.
The SNP Government must also accelerate plans to distribute the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which comes in smaller batches, to remote communities in the Highlands that require a smaller number of doses.”
