Covid-19

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 1 June 2021.

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Photo of Anas Sarwar Anas Sarwar Labour

This is largely welcome news for people in Glasgow and for others across the country, but for many in those parts of Scotland that were expecting to move down a level, the news will come as a bitter blow.

I want to focus on our response in the hotspot areas. It is paramount that we learn from the Glasgow experience and design proper protocols for what happens in current and future hotspots. Those protocols must include walk-in vaccination centres for everyone aged 18 and over, the mass roll-out of polymerase chain reaction tests, increased support for local businesses and greater access to isolation support grants. That must be our first point of call in future outbreaks, and not further lockdowns, which damage the economy and have a negative effect on people’s mental health and wellbeing

Glasgow has been a hotspot area for almost three weeks but it still has the second lowest level of vaccine uptake among local authorities across the country, and we still do not have walk-in vaccination centres for people aged 18 and above. At the same time, we are hearing stories daily about a high level of unattended appointments.

What urgent investigations has the Government done? What steps are being taken to address that high level of missed appointments? What urgent action is being taken to ensure that we increase vaccine uptake in hotspots? When will we have walk-in vaccination clinics for people aged 18 and over in hotspots? Will the First Minister commit to the publication of hotspot protocols for future outbreaks?