Fife Tory accused of ‘fearmongering’ over attack on region's COVID vaccine roll-out rate

Councillor Kathleen Leslie’s criticism sparked a backlash with the local MP saying she was “indulging in fearmongering.”

NHS Fife said “considerable progress” has been made and it remained on course to meet the timelines set out by the Scottish Government

The war of words came after Ms Leslie, whose ward covers Burntisland, Kinghorn and Western Kirkcaldy, said the latest figures for Scotland’s health boards – obtained from Public Health Scotland – showed the percentage of vaccines carried out by January 24 was lower across Fife than the average across the country.

She said: “NHS Fife has vaccinated only 8.28% of the population, which amounts to only 6.01% of the local authority.

"The Scotland wide average at this stage is 9.14 per cent. The SNP Government’s lack of focus is running the risk of a postcode lottery in getting the jabs into people’s arms. The SNP’s vaccine progress has been sluggish and that is of huge concern for everyone in Fife.”She said the SNP was “too busy setting up an independence taskforce rather than being focused on delivering the vaccine and leading our recovery from Covid. “

Her attack sparked a sharp response from Neale Hanvey, MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath.

Newly appointed as SNP shadow spokesman for Covid-19 vaccine deployment, he said the programme in Fife is already moving at a good pace and will likely accelerate.

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"It’s frustrating to see opposition politicians play politics and indulge in fear mongering at a time when we need cool heads and to work collaboratively,” he said.

“The scale of the vaccination programme in Fife shouldn’t be underestimated. There is a huge effort from my old NHS Fife colleagues, along with Fife Council and community organisations, to deliver a programme of this scale effectively and in good time.

“Although it’s still early days, there has already been significant progress. More than 25,000 of our friends, family and neighbours have been vaccinated to date.

“Just this week, NHS Fife started phasing in 13 community vaccination centres, including both Templehall Community Centre and The Lochgelly Centre in my constituency. The reality is our programme is already moving at considerable pace and that will likely accelerate in the coming weeks and months as the supply of vaccines improves.”

Scott Garden, NHS Fife director of pharmacy and medicines, said: "Considerable progress has been made so far in the local COVID-19 vaccine delivery programme and we remain on course to meet the timelines set out by the Scottish Government for health and social care workers, care home staff and residents, as well as locals aged 80 and over.

"The national COVID-19 vaccination programme is the most complex and challenging immunisation project undertaken in modern times. Locally, more than 31,000 local people have already been vaccinated and a significant milestone was reached this week with the opening of the first of our community vaccination clinics. These clinics will enable us to considerably expand our vaccinating capacity and accelerate the pace of the vaccination programme.

"In recent days the Scottish Government has directed all boards to expedite vaccination of those aged 65-79, along with those with underlying health conditions. Local plans are currently being finalised to address this."

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