Covid Scotland LIVE: Nicola Sturgeon says UK must not ‘sleepwalk’ into an Omicron emergency
You can follow the updates in our live blog right now.
FMQs LIVE: Nicola Sturgeon to give an update on Omicron in Scotland
Douglas Ross says people vaccinated today are not protected immediately “it’s why we’ve been calling for the opening of mass vaccination centres for weeks” He raises the fact that businesses are still waiting on new guidance.
Nicola Sturgeon says “no matter how fast we go with vaccines, the virus is running faster” but confirms that Scotlans is now past 50% of over 18s getting boosted.
Nicola Sturgeon says nothing is more important to getting boosters in effect and that guidance was published on Tuesday and more detailed guidance will be online during this session.
She adds that the Scottish Government have been engaging with businesses.
Douglas Ross asks about the mass vaccination centres and asks for an update on how many there will be. He asks for an update on mass vaccination centres in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon says that no matter how far we go with vaccines, at the moment the variant is running faster. She says we must act to slow down the virus. She says the government are seeking to bring on additional facilities. She says EICC and Corn Exchange in Edinburgh preparing to open as well as Hampden in Glasgow.
The First Minister says that the UK Government needs to act urgently. She says that the UK must act and she has written to the PM asking to speak to him today.
The First Minister urges people to stay at home much more than they would as normal and to follow the advice in order to protect public health.
Nicola Sturgeon says that if we don’t act now the overwhelming of the NHS will happen. She says: “Even if Omicron’s impact on individual health is milder than other variants - and we have no evidence of that yet - many will still become severely unwell and die, and the sheer number of people infected will present a massive challenge.”
The First Minister is now standing to give her update.
45% of cases in Scotland are Omicron, with the FM warning that by tomorrow it will be the dominant strain in Scotland. She says she is ‘profoundly concerned’
She says “5,951 cases were reported yesterday - 45.4% of cases now show the S-Gene dropout, indicative of Omicron. It therefore seems likely that by tomorrow, Omicron will be the dominant strain circulating in Scotland.”