A VACCINATION bus is visiting shopping centres in Livingston and Edinburgh this weekend to jag as many 18 to 29-year-olds as possible, the Scottish Government has said.
People who have not had their first dose or had their first more than eight weeks ago are being encouraged to visit the bus, which will be at the Almondvale shopping centre in Livingston on Friday and Saturday, and the Fort Kinnaird centre in Edinburgh on Sunday.
NHS Lothian nursing director Pat Wynne encouraged “anyone who is near these locations this week, and is yet to be vaccinated, not to miss the bus and come forward".
READ MORE: 'Care and caution' to ease rules, says Sturgeon
The bus complements every mainland health board continuing to offer daily drop-in clinics for people under the same conditions.
Anyone who prefers a scheduled appointment can still register with NHS Inform, the Scottish Government said.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Nicola Steedman said: “Our route out of this pandemic is getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, that is why we are urging people to get jagged in July.
“We are currently working our way through the remaining people in the 18 to 29-year-old group and would welcome them at the vaccination bus if they want to pop in while they are out shopping or walking.”
It comes as First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it is a time for “care and caution” if restrictions are eased further after almost 3800 new coronavirus cases were identified.
READ MORE: Covid Scotland: Younger patients behind new surge in hospital admissions
The First Minister expressed confidence that Scotland will still be able to move to Level 0 from July 19 but stressed many restrictions will still be in place – unlike the plans announced by Boris Johnson in England.
The current route map out of lockdown proposes a further lifting of the restrictions from August 9 although Sturgeon said there will still be “some baseline measures in place” such as face masks being required in some situations.
Scotland recorded five deaths of coronavirus patients in the past 24 hours and 3799 new cases, according to the latest data.
The death toll under this daily measure – of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – is now 7740.
Figures published by the Scottish Government indicate the daily test positivity rate is 10.0%, down from 10.2% the previous day.
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