Studies into the effectiveness of two coronavirus vaccines released today are “exceptionally encouraging”, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Scotland's Covid vaccine programme is working "spectacularly well" and Scots should be optimistic about the future, a major report has concluded.
The study, released by Public Health Scotland and a number of Scotland’s major universities, found the Oxford vaccine reduced hospital admission by up to 94%, while the Pfizer jab had a reduction in risk of up to 85%.
Researchers examined coronavirus hospital admissions in Scotland among people who have had their first jab and compared them with those who had not yet received a dose of the vaccine.
The First Minister said: “On this Monday, I hope that gives us all that little bit of optimism we need now for the future.”
Among the over-80s in Scotland there has been an overall 81% reduction in the numbers admitted to hospital.
Professor Aziz Sheikh, director of the University of Edinburgh ’s Usher Institute, said: “These results are very encouraging and have given us great reasons to be optimistic for the future.
“We now have national evidence – across an entire country – that vaccination provides protection against covid hospitalisations.”
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