How many people in Edinburgh and the Lothians have had the vaccine? Updated Covid jab figures explained

Edinburgh has vaccinated the lowest percentage of people in Scotland
The Scottish Government wants to give out 400,000 jabs a week by the end of February (Getty Images)The Scottish Government wants to give out 400,000 jabs a week by the end of February (Getty Images)
The Scottish Government wants to give out 400,000 jabs a week by the end of February (Getty Images)

An effective vaccination programme remains crucial for life to return to something like normal following the Covid-19 crisis.

With the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines well underway in Scotland - and the newly-approved Moderna vaccine due to arrive in spring - normality feels like it is edging closer.

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The Scottish Government aims to offer a vaccine to everyone in priority groups one to nine by mid-April.

However, there is nothing simple about vaccinating an entire population - so just how effective has the rollout in Scotland been so far?

Here’s the latest update on figures for Edinburgh and the Lothians.

What number of people in Edinburgh have received a first vaccination?

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According to the latest Public Health Scotland figures, 122,364 people in the city of Edinburgh have received their first dose of a vaccine as of 28 February.

The percentage of people in the population that have been now been given the jab is 27 percent.

That means Edinburgh is the council area that has vaccinated the lowest percentage of people in Scotland so far.

As you can see from JPI Media’s graph showing the vaccine rollout in Scotland, Edinburgh is falling behind in terms of the percentage of the population who have been given a jab, compared to the other council areas.

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NHS chiefs previously said that the city’s high number of care homes has delayed the rollout of vaccines.

What number of people in the Lothians have received a first vaccination?

Across the three other council areas within the Lothian region there are differing numbers of people that have been vaccinated.

According to Public Health Scotland figures, 31,152 people in East Lothian have received their first dose of a vaccine as of 28 February.

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That is 36 percent of the population, meaning East Lothian comes joint 19 out of 32 council areas in Scotland for the percentage of people who have been vaccinated alongside North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.

In Midlothian, 25,990 people have received their first dose - 35 per cent of the population, meaning the council area comes joint 23 out of 32 alongside Moray.

And in West Lothian, 46,054 people have been given their first dose, which is 31 per cent of the population, with the council area coming 29 out of 32.

Which vaccines are people in Scotland receiving?

Scotland-based patients are currently receiving either the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine or the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.

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The Moderna vaccine, which was approved in early January, will be available for use in mid-April.

How will vaccines be rolled out in Scotland?

On 13 January, the Scottish Government unveiled its plan for rolling out the Covid vaccine in what it has called “the largest mass vaccination programme” in the country’s history.

It aims to vaccinate 400,000 people each week from the end of February.

By mid-March, the government expects to receive a weekly supply of more than 300,000 coronavirus vaccines.

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Vaccinations will take place in care homes, people’s own homes for older patients, GP surgeries, local vaccination clinics, community pharmacies, mobile vaccination units and mass vaccination centres.

When will I receive my vaccine?

The groups most at risk from coronavirus are being inoculated first.

These are residents in a care home for older adults and their carers, people aged 80 and over and frontline health and social care workers.

Vaccinations are offered to the public based on a priority list, decided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

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The JCVI have determined that people aged 50 or over are most at risk, and the risk increases with age.

That means vaccines in Scotland will be given out as follows:

- Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

- All those 80 years of age and over

- Frontline health and social care workers

- All those 75 years of age and over

- All those 70 years of age and over

- Clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

- All those 65 years of age and over

- All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions

- All those 60 years of age and over

- All those 55 years of age and over

- All those 50 years of age and over.

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After that, all remaining people in Scotland will receive their jab, which is a total of 3.8 million people.

Those in groups one to nine are expected to have received at least one vaccination by mid-April.