GRAHAM Simpson is calling for police officers and teachers to receive Covid-19 vaccinations once current priority groups have been immunised.
The Central Scotland MSP has highlighted how Scottish ministers adhere to priority groups based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Frontline health and social care workers, elderly care homes resident and their carers, and people aged 80 and over are being vaccinated first.
Mr Simpson has said it is a “no brainer” that police officers and teachers should receive the jab next after the initial JCVI groups have been vaccinated.
Police Scotland Chief Constable Iain Livingstone revealed he has “legitimate concerns” on when officers will receive the vaccine and has raised it with government officials.
And Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, has also called for his members to get the vaccine as soon as possible as a way to get schools back to normal.
Mr Simpson said: “The patchy roll out of the vaccine by the SNP Government has seen targets pushed back and hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses left unaccounted for.
“This makes it even more important for us to plan accordingly on who gets the vaccine next. That’s why I am calling for police officers and teachers to receive the jab following the initial JCVI priority groups.
“Leaders in both professions want the SNP Government to get this done.
“It is a no brainer that police officers and teachers should be next. Frontline police officers routinely deal with the public, enter people’s homes and spend time in hospitals. They deserve to be protected.
“Once schools reopen, teachers will be mixing with large numbers of pupils. Protecting them quickly will make it easier and safer to get kids back into classrooms, which is absolutely vital after the disruption of the past year.”
