60 new coronavirus deaths have been recorded in the last 24 hours across Scotland, the Scottish Government has confirmed.
994 cases of the virus were also recorded overnight, taking the total since the start of the pandemic in March to 178,682.
Currently, there are 1,952 people in hospital being treated for Covid-19, while 142 people remain in intensive care unit.
Since the end of January last year, a total of 6,100 people have died of the virus after returning a positive test.
The news comes as a new coronavirus vaccine could be approved for use in the UK in a matter of weeks after trials suggested it was more than 89 per cent effective in preventing the deadly disease.
The UK has so far managed to secure 60 million doses of Novavax which is understood to offer protection against the new variants of the virus from South Africa and Britain.
During trials which involved 15,000 people between 18 and 84 it was shown to be 89.3 per cent effective.
