Scotland has enough coronavirus booster jab appointments booked to reach the national target to have 80 per cent of the adult population fully vaccinated by the New Year, Jason has said.
The Scottish Government national clinical director said the “get boosted by the bells” campaign was working well with about 72 per cent of adults in Scotland having received their booster shot before Christmas Eve.
He told the BBC: “We’re at 72-point something before Christmas Eve. We’ve got appointments to get to 80%.
“What we need now is that final push to get people to come to fill those appointments.”
He added: “That honestly is the best present you could give to any of your relatives, to get yourself protected so that you then protect others.”
Prof Leitch also said he was “very, very hopeful” schools would return on time in January.
He spoke as new restrictions came into force in Scotland in a bid to tackle the Omicron variant.
From Monday, nightclubs will be shut and hospitality businesses will need to return to offering only table service if serving alcohol.
Bars, restaurants and indoor leisure facilities such as gyms, theatres and museums will also have to reinstate one-metre social distancing regulations.
The restrictions come after caps were placed on large events from Sunday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced last week that just 100 people would be able to attend a standing indoor event and 200 seated.
Outdoor events will also be restricted to 500 – a rule which left the Scottish Football Association bringing forward the planned winter break, meaning just one game will be played with the reduced number of fans.
The restrictions will be reviewed every three weeks, according to the Scottish Government.
The last available figures released by the Scottish Government show 7,076 new cases of Covid-19 reported on Christmas Eve, with 10 deaths and a positivity rate of 14.6 per cent.
A total of 6,154 cases of the new variant were also reported on Friday, up 3,832 from the previous day, due to a backlog in laboratory testing.
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