A TOTAL of 99% of older care home residents have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, John Swinney has revealed.

The Deputy First Minister said 99% of older care home residents - regarded by the World Health Authority as the most vulnerable group - have received a first dose, along with 93% of all care home residents.

In the over-80s group - not living in a care home - and regarded as the people who are the next most vulnerable - some 92% have received at least one dose.

Swinney also announced that daily coronavirus vaccinations have now almost doubled since last week.

Welcoming the news, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "8,165 vaccinations in Scotland yesterday! Another record high.

"99% (!) of older care home residents now vaccinated with first dose. And 92%+ of over 80s - extraordinary uptake. Teams now working through 70-79 yr olds & those clinically vulnerable, & starting on over 65s. Thanks to all!"

Speaking at the Scottish Government's daily briefing on the pandemic, he said that in the 24 hours to 8.30am on Friday, 48,165 first doses were administered to patients - which is the most jabs given in a single day in Scotland.

It is nearly twice the number reported last Friday, when 24,197 people received their first dose.

A total of 742,512 people have now received a first dose of the vaccine.

Swinney also confirmed that 61 deaths have been recorded in the past 24 hours, a slight increase on the 53 confirmed on Thursday.

It brings the death toll under that measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - 6,383.

However, the number of new daily cases fell from 1,149 to 895, taking the total number of patients who have tested positive in Scotland to 184,313.

Swinney said: "That represents 4.9% of the total number of tests. This is the second day in succession in which the positivity rate has been below 5%, which is the World Health Organisation definition of a pandemic under control. This is very encouraging news.

"We also had the news yesterday that the R number is now between 0.7 and 0.9 - comfortably indicating that R is now below one, representing further the progress that is being made."

He said 1,794 people are in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 18 in 24 hours. Of them, 123 patients are in intensive care, down four.

Swinney told the briefing that snow clearing and gritting will be prioritised around all vaccination centres.

The Met Office has issued amber warnings for snow in parts of Scotland in the coming days, but Swinney said the Scottish Government is working to minimise disruption around jab sites.

Addressing potential problems caused by bad weather, Swinney said anyone invited to be vaccinated can rearrange their appointment by following the instructions on the letter they received.

Meanwhile, a new asymptomatic testing centre will open next week in Cowdenbeath, Fife, as part of a drive by the Scottish Government to test people in the community regardless of symptoms, and four more will open in the region in the coming weeks.

Swinney said proposals for similar centres from 19 local authorities are expected to be agreed by the end of Friday, and further agreements are due to be reached next week.

Lateral flow tests will be used at the centres, but positive cases will be confirmed using the more sensitive PCR tests.

Swinney said: "The targeted expansion of testing in these communities will help more people find out if they have Covid, even if they don't have symptoms.
"It will help them to know if they or their contacts need to self-isolate and will therefore play an important part in helping us to stop the spread of the virus."