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NatureScot has provided statutory conservation advice for a flapper skate nursery area identified in the Inner Sound. Scottish Ministers are currently considering what action should be taken to provide interim protection to the flapper skate nursery area and an announcement will be made in due course.

NatureScot has provided statutory conservation advice for a flapper skate nursey area identified in the Inner Sound highlighting that the habitat is of national importance. They recommended that the Scottish Government implements permanent spatial protection at this site, and that interim protection is put in place while further survey work is carried out to assess the extent of the habitat.

We recognise the importance of providing vaccinators with the training and support they require to undertake their role effectively.

Our approach builds on the Green Book on immunisation against infectious disease and aligns with the approach taken by Public Health England.

For individuals who are experienced active vaccinators, training need only cover the specific characteristics of COVID-19 vaccinations.

Where an individual is returning to vaccinations after being inactive for a period of time, their training requirements will be informed by a short self-assessment.

Individuals with no experience as vaccinators will be required to undertake core vaccination training and will require clinical supervision when administering vaccine until confident and competent.

We are working to ensure everyone is fully informed regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. A national door drop arrived with households on the week starting January 4th, as well as our digital and social media campaigns, which went live on this date.

Our outdoors advertising campaign Started from 11th of January and a TV and radio campaign began on January the 21st.

The Scottish COVID-19 Vaccination Helpline (0800 030 8013) is now open, to make sure those who are called forward for the vaccine can get the information they need.

Health Boards have set out in their vaccination delivery plans the services that they will provide to meet the needs of their local communities. COVID-19 vaccinations may not take place at all GP practices, however, NHS Scotland will confirm local arrangements. NHS Scotland will invite those on the priority list by phone or letter for an appointment. The Coronavirus Vaccination Helpline on 0800 0308013 is now open to answer any questions, or provide further information about the coronavirus vaccine and its delivery. Website can be accessed at NHS Inform .

The Scottish Government is provided with the supply forecasts from the NHS NSS on a weekly basis which are refined each week, which can make forward operational planning challenging. These reports forecast up to 4 weeks in advance. The UK vaccines taskforce provides a longer range forecast but this is subject to change.

The Scottish Government has been very clear from day one that the pace of our national vaccine programme is dependent on vaccine supply and delivery timescales and we continue to work closely across the 4 nations to ensure this is as smooth as possible.

We have been clear we expect health boards to minimise wasted doses of vaccine, and have provided them with best practice advice on how to achieve this.

Some wastage is unavoidable for a variety of reasons based on the characteristics of the vaccine, logistical issues with cold chain supply, storage failure and/or specific clinical situations such as a breakout of COVID-19 in a care home. To date, our latest management information indicates a wastage rate of around only 1.8% - well below our planning assumption of 5%, which is a precautionary approach for worst case scenarios and in line with global best practice.

Any wastage is reviewed to ensure any preventable loss is avoided in the future. We will continue to monitor wastage rates and regularly report back.

A waste management tool is now in place to learn why waste is arising so that solutions can be put in place to minimise waste. It will also provide the ability to extract data on the number of doses not able to be used for various reasons. On the 9 February, NHS Lothian shared online the opportunity for staff who had not yet received a first or second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to attend as the adverse weather meant appointments were available at short notice. We are pleased to see Boards acting pragmatically to ensure we adhere to the JCVI priority list whilst continuing to minimise vaccine waste.

Data on COVID-19 and on our COVID-19 vaccination program is published weekly on the Scottish Government Website and is available here : Coronavirus (COVID-19): daily data for Scotland - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .

This is in addition to frequent televised briefings which include questions from the media and members of the public.

Upon receiving the first vaccination patients will be given a reminder leaflet which will be issued with the date of their follow up appointment to receive their second dose. All vaccinations are held on an individual’s medical records.

We will keep these rules under regular review alongside the other international travel restrictions. Ministers must review the need for restrictions imposed under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Scotland) Regulations 2020 at least once every 28 days. The results of these reviews are reported to Parliament.