Every adult in Scotland will be offered a first dose of Covid vaccine by September, a Tory minister has pledged.
Dominic Raab said today the UK Government was working towards a target of the entire county receiving their first jab by early autumn.
It comes as the Scottish Government steps up its recruitment of vaccinators to administer doses across the country, with more than 5,000 registered so far - a figure which does not include all participating GPs.
More than half a million Scots are expected to have received their first dose by the end of January.
Speaking on Sky today, Raab said: “Our target is by September to have offered all the adult population a first dose. If we can do it faster than that, great, but that’s the roadmap.”
He said that he hoped by the “early spring” some restrictions can be lifted “gradually” so the country can “get back to normal”.
But the Foreign Secretary warned that it could be put “at risk” by the new variants and pressure on the NHS as he urged people to follow the rules.
More than 3.5 million people in the UK have now received their first dose of a vaccine and some 324,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines were administered in the space of 24 hours.
The UK Government is responsible for ordering vaccines while it is left to the devolved governments to administer them in their respective countires.
Scotland's health secretary said last week that everyone aged 80 or over in Scotland will be given a coronavirus vaccine by next month.
Jeane Freeman made the promise as the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab was rolled out in more than 1,000 locations across Scotland.
The total number of people vaccinated by the end of the month will be just under 560,000, she told MSPs.
