Thursday February 18th 2021
The Covid vaccine rollout across the Lothians remains slower than the rest of the country although it is gathering pace, according to latest figures.
Just under 22 per cent of the NHS Lothian health board population have received their first dose as of Sunday, February 14; this compares to the highest performing health board NHS Dumfries, where 38.78 per cent have been vaccinated.
It is an increase on just 16 per cent of Lothian residents being vaccinated by the end of the previous week but leaves the health board bottom of the list in Scotland when it comes to population coverage.
In East Lothian, 11,652 people had received their first dose of the vaccine by Sunday – equalling 10.9 percent of residents – compared to 2,161 people in neighbouring Midlothian (13 per cent).
And in Edinburgh, 55,960 people had received their first dose – 10.8 per cent of residents.
In East Lothian, the number of Covid cases remained low at 58.8 per 100,000 population, while it rose in Midlothian over the last week to 91.9 cases per 100,000 people.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yeaterday told the Scottish Parliament that 1,320,074 people had now received their first dose of the vaccine across the country.
She also revealed that deaths in care homes linked to the virus had fallen last week by 62 per cent, taking the number to a smaller proportion of all Covid deaths than it has been since March last year.
National Records of Scotland issued its latest figures, which recorded the number of Covid-related deaths in Scotland to date at 9, 053.
The First Minister pointed to falling numbers as a sign that the vaccination programme was beginning to take effect.
She said: “It is reasonable to take some heart from this.”
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