The Telegraph
Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of failing to provide a seven-day Covid vaccination programme after a record low number of Scots were treated on Sunday despite around 400,000 doses lying unused. The First Minister disclosed that a further 11,364 people were given their first dose on Sunday, less than half the total the previous day and the smallest daily figure reported since the roll-out started. Ms Sturgeon blamed a "data lag" for the small Scottish total and disclosed the proportion of over-80s vaccinated in Scotland had increased from 34 per cent to 46 per cent since Friday. But Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, said the figure across the UK was 78.7 per cent, with around 2.5 million Britons getting the jab last week at a rate of more than 250 per minute. Speaking ahead of a visit north of the Border this week by Boris Johnson, Mr Hancock said Scotland had received more vaccine per person than anywhere else in the world apart from Israel and the United Arab Emirates. With Ms Sturgeon threatening a wildcat independence referendum if she wins a majority in May's Holyrood election, he said the roll-out showed "what the UK can do when we pull together" in difficult times. Although the number of people vaccinated on Sunday in England also fell sharply, the roll-out south of the Border was still nearly twice as fast. It is understood the UK Government has now passed more than 800,000 doses to the SNP administration in Scotland, but only 415,402 had been administered as of yesterday morning.
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