Kirkcaldy MSP praises NHS as more than 12,000 jabs administered in Fife’s care homes

As the efforts to protect the Kingdom’s most vulnerable residents gathers pace, around 5000 vaccinations have now been carried out in Fife amongst care home residents and staff, who were amongst the first to be prioritised for immunisation.

A further 7100 healthcare staff working in Fife have also been vaccinated as part of the efforts to maintain critical NHS services over the extremely busy winter period.

Mr Torrance said: “We have to congratulate NHS Fife on the progress that has been made in such a short space of time in rolling out the Covid-19 vaccine programme as more than 12,000 jabs have now been administered.

“The first of many milestones has been reached in administering the first vaccine to residents of all 76 care homes across Fife and NHS Fife management have to be praised for their swift handling of this complicated logistical process.

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“The dedication of NHS Fife workers has been fantastic and I welcome the news that all 54 GPs are now on board for delivery of the next phase of the vaccine roll out for the over 80s in our communities.

“I urge the public to be patient in waiting for their opportunity to be vaccinated, as I have seen how hard NHS Fife staff are working on the vaccine rollout programme and believe they are doing a fantastic job in tackling the pandemic and protecting the most vulnerable in our community.”

Dona Milne, NHS Fife’s Director of Public Health, said: “We have made significant strides over recent weeks to protect those in Fife most vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19 and completing the first round of vaccinations in our care homes is an important milestone in these efforts.

“While this is encouraging, it’s vital that we do not become complacent. We know that the prevalence of Covid-19 in our communities has increased and we need local people to continue to follow the public health measures in place if we are to suppress the virus and reduce the numbers becoming seriously unwell with Covid-19.”

Fife residents aged 80 and above are the next priority group to begin vaccination, as set out in the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guidance.

This follows the recent approval of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which will see those aged 80 and over vaccinated at their local GP practices.

All 54 GP practices in Fife will be participating in the Covid-19 vaccination programme, with most beginning to book appointments this week.

Patients aged 80 and over will be contacted by their local GP practice by letter or telephone as a vaccine becomes available to them.

Those aged 75-79 will be in the next priority group to begin vaccination, followed by those aged 70-74 and those considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable.

Broad timelines for the vaccination of these other groups will be confirmed in the coming days.

Given the significant scale of the vaccination programme, patients are asked not to contact their local GP practice for updates to ensure phone lines remain available to those requiring urgent assessment.

A local online support hub has been created to provide information on testing for Covid-19 and updates on the pandemic. Visit: Coronavirus Information

Additional information on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in Scotland is available on the NHS Inform website by visiting: Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

A freephone helpline is also available to help with any questions about COVID-19. The helpline is open from 8.00am to 10.00pm each day on 0800 028 2816.

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