Almost half of West Lothian’s 16 and 17 year-olds have received their first vaccine according to the education department.
Young people aged 16 and 17 were invited to register their interest through the online portal at NHS Inform, from the start of the month and were sent an appointment via SMS or email. In addition, drop-in clinics are available for 16 to 17-years-olds.
Head of Education James Cameron told a meeting of the Education Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel: “First data we have is every encouraging.”
Councillor Andrew Miller, the SNP group education spokesman, had asked what role the council could play in the drive to vaccinate senior pupils and in what confidence was there that those younger pupils would be protected by vaccines.
“Are we playing any part in sign-posting where they should go to register interest?”
Mr Cameron said: “We are putting out a lot of messages on social media and we have emailed all parents and carers. The first figures are very encouraging given the size of our cohort. We have 40% of our 16 and 17 year-olds already vaccinated.”
In line with the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), teenagers are offered a first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Anyone not registered or attending a drop-in clinic, will be sent an appointment through the post. It is expected that all 16 and 17 year-olds will have been offered a vaccination appointment by the end of September.
