Lanarkshire vaccine rollout rate is called into question

Mr. Simpson’s criticism  comes after the latest vaccination figures for Scotland’s health boards showed that the percentage of vaccines carried out by January 24 was lower in Lanarkshire than the average across the country.Mr. Simpson says SNP Ministers have been far too sluggish to get supplies of the vaccine to Lanarkshire meaning targets to the most vulnerable people will be missed.The figures state that in  Lanarkshire only 8.25% have been vaccinated, compared to a Scotland wide average of 9.14 per cent.Mr. Simpson says that the SNP Government’s lack of focus on the rollout is running the risk of a postcode lottery in getting the jabs into people’s arms.
Mr Simpson said: ““The SNP are too busy setting up an independence taskforce rather than being focused on delivering the vaccine rollout and leading our recovery against Covid.“The SNP should be ramping up the vaccine rollout across Lanarkshire and using the hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses they have been given by the UK Government.
 “Our health staff and volunteers are working tirelessly to deliver the vaccine in Lanarkshire but are being let down by the SNP Government’s total lack of urgency.”However, a Scottish Government spokesperson stated:   “The vaccination roll-out in Scotland is on track. At this point, we have already vaccinated a higher percentage of our population than most other countries worldwide. “Each health board is working hard to get the vaccine into people’s arms as quickly as possible, and while factors such as geography and population will mean that there will be some variations in delivery, we are confident that health boards are on track to meet the national targets we’ve set down.”