Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations have identified the groups to be prioritised within the first phase of vaccinations, including everyone over 50, and people under 50 with particular conditions. This approach is designed to address approximately 99% of the vaccine-preventable mortality from Covid-19. Their recommendation states that vaccinations should be prioritised in this order:

1) Residents in care homes for older adults and their carers

2) All those 80 years of age and over, frontline health and social care workers

3) All those 75 years of age and over

4) All those 70 years of age and over, clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

5) All those 65 years of age and over

6) All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality – unpaid carers are included within this group

7) All those 60 years of age and over

8) All those 55 years of age and over

9) All those 50 years of age and over

We will work with health boards, local authorities and carers’ organisations to ensure that all eligible unpaid carers receive the information they need to come forward for vaccination and are actively considering what other communication awareness can be used.

There is no data as yet on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy, either from human or animal studies. Given the lack of evidence, the JCVI favours a precautionary approach, and does not currently advise COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy.

At present there are no plans to include chiropractors in the first wave of the COVID-19 Vaccine Delivery.

The Scottish Government are following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age and that the risk increases exponentially with age. Additionally the committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide direct care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination.

I announced on 29 October 2020 in S5W-32889 that, with effect from the next meeting of the Covid-19 Advisory Group, the minutes of the meetings would be expanded to provide more detail than the previous summary format. The minutes of the first meeting of the Advisory Group following the announcement on 2 November are published on the Scottish Government website at https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-covid-19
-advisory-group-minutes-2-november-2020/

All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

Day carers who support foster carers and families will not be eligible for the £500 one-off "thank you" bonus. Further detail on the pro rata £500 bonus scheme, which will be funded from the Scottish Government's COVID-19 support package, is available at https://www.gov.scot/news/gbp-500-bonus-for-health-and-social-care-staff/ .

Current restrictions allow a maximum number of 50 people to attend a place of worship within local authorities having protection levels 0 – 3 and no more than 20 people in level 4. These capacity numbers are inclusive of all children under the age of 12.

The inclusion of children under 12 in the caps detailed above is currently under review, and any decision to revise this position will be informed by public health and clinical advice. However we are mindful that the general direction of travel at this time is to focus on suppression of the virus and will take a cautious and safe approach.

The Scottish Government is currently not proposing to change arrangements for extended households, due to the ongoing prevalence of the Covid-19 virus. Currently, you can form an extended household, with one other household, if one of the adults lives alone, lives alone with children under 18 years old, or you are a couple who don't live together. In addition, all families, including those with children under one, who are in Covid-19 protection level 1, 2 or 3 are still able to access informal childcare if necessary, for example to allow parents to work, or attend medical appointments. Families should only use informal childcare in level 4 if it is essential. Further guidance on this is on the Parent Club website.

We recognise that this remains a very challenging time for many families including those with very young children. Support continues to be available from a wide range or sources, including those listed in the new national Family Support Directory available on Parent Club that provides access to further sources of information and direct support on a broad range of issues such as support on childcare, mental health and wellbeing and family relationships. In recognising the particular needs of babies and young children, the guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): organised activities for children was updated on 24 November and sets out the maximum number of adults who can attend indoor parent/baby or toddler groups (under 5s) and associated organised activities at any one time, to provide more flexibility in this age group.

The health visiting service remains a particularly key source of support for families with young children; it remains available to support all families with preschool children by providing information, advice and help to access other services and supports. In keeping with the latest route map advice and in line with the Universal Health Visiting Pathway, where a home visit is not suitable, contacts over the phone or using video through services like Near Me or Attend Anywhere might be offered. The health visitor can be contacted directly by parents with any concerns about child’s development or wider wellbeing.

As an employer, the Scottish Government is committed to ensuring the workplace is one where all colleagues are valued and treated with respect and dignity. Our policies and procedures allow managers to deal with concerns about bullying at an early stage and on an informal basis, where appropriate. There is no requirement to report informal action to HR and therefore no information is held centrally about cases that have been dealt with informally.

Information about formal cases which have been recorded and investigated is as follows:

The collection of a puppy or kitten from a breeder is subject to the advice and rules on travel at https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-on-travel-and-transport/ . The guidance states that travel for essential animal welfare reasons is permitted.

Collection of a puppy or kitten is therefore permitted if it is essential for the animal’s welfare that they be moved from the breeder’s premises.

Twenty three ultra-low temperature (ULT) freezers capable of the storage of medicines have been purchased, with at least one freezer in every territorial health board. Some boards will have more than one ULT freezer, for example three ULT freezers are being located in NHS Highland to account for the board’s geography and the current understood limitations on transporting the vaccine.

The total cost of the ULT freezers that have been purchased is £125,000. The freezers are not portable. The vaccines are packed in multi-dose vials which minimises the amount of storage space required. There is estimated to be sufficient capacity in the NHS Scotland estate to hold around 1 million doses of vaccine at any point in time. The capacity of the individual ULT freezers ranges from 101 litres to 729 litres. Due to their size and requirements these ULT freezers are not portable.

There is significant existing -8°C to +2°C refrigeration storage capacity within the NHS estate - both dedicated cold-stores in most hospital locations and stand-alone refrigeration in secondary and primary care locations. Fridges can be moved, for example to temporary walk-in and drive-through locations, as required. To support the seasonal flu programme and in preparation for the Covid-19 vaccine, 192 additional fridges, at a total cost of £210,000, have been sourced since August 2020.

If stability data supports the movement of the Pfizer vaccine to alternative locations at -8°C to +2°C, this will be managed using vaccine porters. These are specialist cool boxes that are validated to maintain temperature within a fixed range for a defined period of time. These are reusable and are used annually to support the seasonal flu campaign. Additional stock of vaccine porters and associated cool packs have been purchased to increase capacity to support the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccine. The total cost of recent purchases of vaccine porters is approximately £186,000.