TORIES have reacted with fury after Nicola Sturgeon said she would publish information on Scotland’s Covid-19 vaccine supply “regardless of what they say”.
Earlier this month the Scottish Government had to withdraw its vaccine deployment plan because it included figures for weekly supplies from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
The Department of Health said that the information was commercially confidential and could lead to the companies facing pressure from other countries.
Despite this, the UK Government has repeatedly shared details of supplies anyway.
READ MORE: Scottish Government to defy Department of Health in row over jag supply 'spin'
Yesterday the First Minister announced she would publish the information again since Westminster seems “quite happy to brief these figures through spin to the media”.
She told MSPs: “I've said to my officials, actually, regardless of what they say, I think we will just go back to publishing the actual supply figures from next week so that we all have transparency around that.”
It comes amid a row between the EU and AstraZeneca over Covid-19 vaccine supply.
The bloc has accused the company of breaking its contract and not supplying enough doses – the firm has blamed production delays.
However the EU is not satisfied with this, partly because there seems to be no production delay to the supply of vaccines in the UK.
European Health Commissioner Stella Kyriakides has said: "We reject the idea of first come, first served. That might work at the local butchers but not in this contract. Vaccine developers have a moral, societal and contractual responsibility."
Amid the row yesterday Johnson, on his visit to Scotland, urged the First Minister to reconsider publication of the vaccine supplies.
There are fears that publication of the UK’s larger supplies will lead to AstraZeneca facing increased pressure from the EU to divert doses there.
The Prime Minister said he favoured “maximum possible transparency” but added that cannot risk “national security of supply”.
Tories lined up to attack the First Minister. Former work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith accused her of “showboating to try and curry favour” with the EU, while Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross claimed she was trying to “distract from the SNP’s slow vaccine rollout”.
Duncan Smith added the First Minister should “for once in her life thank the UK Government, for having vaccines so people in Scotland have a better chance of surviving coronavirus than if it was stuck in the EU”.
READ MORE: FACT CHECK: Ruth Davidson's claim vaccines aren't reaching GPs quickly enough
Brexiteer David Jones claimed Sturgeon was “trying to ingratiate herself with the EU, in the hope that if she won a referendum, Scotland would be allowed to join”.
He called her plans to publish the supply information “pretty reprehensible”.
A spokesperson for Sturgeon described the attacks of her as “ludicrous”.
“The Tories are now openly trying to politicise the delivery of life-saving vaccines, and that says far more about them than it does about the First Minister or the Scottish Government.”
Asked about the decision to publish supply information today, Health Secretary Jeane Freeman told the briefing: “The bottom line here is that the UK Government has repeatedly briefed key statistics on how much vaccine has been allocated and delivered to Scotland.
“So it’s not credible for them one day to tell journalists … what these figures are and another day tell us that putting out these figures is a matter of national security.
“That circle really doesn’t square.
“We’ve held off publication in the past at their request but that’s no longer tenable. So the public have a right to clarity and we will give them that.
“We’re not talking about future supplies, we’re talking about known supplies – and I think that’s exactly the right thing for us to do.”
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