DOUGLAS Ross and the Scottish Tories have been accused of doing everything they can to “twist the picture” of the vaccine roll-out in Scotland and undermine public confidence.
Speaking on the BBC this afternoon, the Scottish Tory leader claimed that the vaccine roll-out in Scotland is “not as good as it could be”.
Asked if he was implying that the Scottish Government was needlessly “sitting on” vaccine supply instead of rolling it out, Ross claimed “there are hundreds of thousands of vaccines available in Scotland and they’re not getting into people’s arms”.
Ross made further claims that the vaccines are sitting in warehouses, depots and collection points.
READ MORE: John Swinney rubbishes Tory claim that Scotland has received 700,000 jabs
However, the Moray MP also claimed that he did not want debates around the vaccine roll-out to descend into “petty party political squabbling”.
The presenter said it was “interesting” what the Scottish Tory leader had been suggesting, to which Patrick Harvie MSP replied: “Interesting would be one way of putting it.”
The Scottish Green co-leader went on to say he found it “bizarre” that Ross would claim to wish to avoid “party political squabbles … when he and his colleagues do seem to be doing whatever they can to twist the picture to try and undermine public confidence”.
Harvie said that if it was possible to improve any aspect of the vaccination programme, that should “of course” be looked at, but added: “We really need to have some confidence in the roll-out that’s happening.”
The Green MSP said that both the UK and Scottish Governments were “dragging their feet” on supporting people to self-isolate and said it is important to recognise that the virus will still need to be kept under control even after the vaccinations have been widely deployed.
He warned that the vaccines are not a “magic wand”, but “a route out”, and said that focus must not be lost on other aspects of the pandemic response.
Scottish Green co-leader @patrickharvie says vaccination roll-out will take time so there is still a need to improve areas such as supported self-isolation
— BBC Scotland News (@BBCScotlandNews) January 21, 2021
Live updates: https://t.co/dgMnx5rPPR pic.twitter.com/v4oETL3IPB
The news comes after Ruth Davidson was yesterday put down after attacking Nicola Sturgeon over the vaccine roll-out in Scotland.
Davidson told Holyrood: “As the Deputy First Minister has now accepted, the Scottish Government is in receipt of a total of 700,000 doses.”
John Swinney had said that although Scotland had an “allocation” of 700,000 doses, he was unable to say how many of those were in the country.
Swinney said: “My hands are tied by the restrictions the UK Government imposed on us last week.”
READ MORE: WATCH: Nicola Sturgeon says UK Government had 'hissy fit' over Covid jag figures
The Scottish Government had published details of its vaccine supply, but were forced to retract those figures after the UK Government threw a “hissy fit”, according to Nicola Sturgeon.
Responding to Davidson’s claims yesterday, the First Minister said: “If Ruth Davidson’s whole argument here is based on the premise that we’ve somehow got 700,000 doses (and remember, the UK Government don’t want us to talk about the total number of doses that have been allocated), if that is the case then that must mean – given that we are getting our proportionate, population-based share – the UK Government, for England, have got seven million doses.
“They haven’t done seven million vaccinations so presumably, they’re also sitting on supplies for no reason, in the same way that Ruth Davidson is suggesting we are.”
England's vaccination programme has focused on the over-80s, whereas Scotland's has focused on those in care home settings.
Providing vaccinations in care homes is a longer and more laborious exercise, and so England has so far innoculated a higher proportion of its population. However, Scotland has reportedly given the jag to over 90% of care home residents, much higher more than south of the Border.
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