A second Covid vaccine could be just weeks away, Scotland's health secretary has announced.
Jeane Freeman said if UK regulators approved the use of the AstraZeneca jab by the end of 2020 it could be rolled out across the country from January 11.
It comes as the SNP minister also confirmed that more than 56,000 Scots have already received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine - and should get their second dose by the end of next month.
Freeman told MSPs at Holyrood today the discover of a new Covid strain in the UK was a "bitter blow" but insisted the country now had better tools with which to fight it.
NHS workers who deal with patients, care home residents and private care staff were the first groups of people to be vaccinated this month.
With the impending arrival of a second vaccine, the next group of people to be prioritised for vaccination will be those aged 80 and over not living in a care home.
The health secretary said the AstraZeneca jab was easier to transport, meaning Scots could travel to their GP surgeries to receive it.
"Right now, we have access to just one vaccine," Freeman told MSPs. "In the near future, we hope it will be two.
'The new AZ vaccine - should it get approval - does not need to be stored at ultra low temperatures and is easier to transport.
"That means we will be able to deploy it in far wider settings than is the case with Pfizer.
"We will likely use it to prioritise vaccinations of the over-80s who are not care home residents and to be largely vaccinated in GP settings.
"Should the AZ vaccine be approved before the end of this calendar year, then we anticipate we will be able to commence vaccination from primary care locations from Monday, January 11."
It comes as a total of 6,298 people have died in Scotland with confirmed or suspected coronavirus, according to the National Records of Scotland (NRS).
The figures show 203 deaths relating to Covid-19 were registered between December 14 and 20, down 23 from the previous week.
Of these, the majority were in hospital at 124 (61%), with 71 in care homes and eight at home or in a non-institutional setting.
The statistics are published weekly and cover all deaths registered in Scotland where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
