Around 28,000 people in the first priority groups have been given the Covid-19 vaccine so far, NHS Tayside has said.
All GP practices in Tayside are now inviting their patients who are aged over 80 to come for vaccination, with almost 6,000 doses already delivered since the first Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines in Scotland were given two weeks ago.
‘Monumental effort’
Associate Director of Public Health Dr Daniel Chandler said: “There has been a monumental effort from our vaccination teams to so far deliver 28,000 vaccinations to over 80s, care home staff and residents and frontline health and social care staff in this very short period time.
“This means that NHS Tayside is on track to offer vaccination to all in these priority groups by the end of January.
“Our vaccination teams have put in a huge amount of work and planning to get to this stage, and are also working hard to plan for the next stages of the programme.
“This will see all those aged over 65 and those classed as clinically extremely vulnerable invited for vaccination in stages throughout February.
“It is really encouraging to see such high uptake so far and we know that many more people are eager to get vaccinated.
“Please be assured that everyone will be offered the vaccination but, understandably, we need to ensure those who are most vulnerable are vaccinated as soon as possible, so this means that our immediate focus is on frontline staff and older and at-risk members of our communities.
“Remember it takes two to three weeks for the vaccine to provide protection and it is not known whether it stops you spreading the virus to others so we all need to continue to stick to the rules and help stop the spread in our communities.”
GP practices are currently contacting their eligible patients directly to book appointments at a time that is suitable for them.
More than 14,500 frontline health and social care staff have had a vaccination since the programme began on December 8, with a further 4,500 appointments booked over the coming days.
Around 7,000 care home staff and residents have also been vaccinated, with the small number of remaining care homes scheduled for vaccination from this week.
