Scotland falls behind the rest of the UK on vaccinations despite 1 million doses stockpile

Scotland is falling behind the rest of the UK in the drive to vaccinate the most vulnerable citizens despite a stockpile of more than 1 million vaccines.

The latest figures show that Scotland fell far behind its vaccination target by 400,000 in January. Pressure is mounting on the Scottish government to explain the shortfall and why the rest of the UK home nations are vaccinating at a much faster rate.

Figures for Sunday also showed the lowest daily total of vaccinations, suggesting the mass rollout was slowing down further across Scotland, putting pressure on ministers to explain the shortfall.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon admitted that there had been issues with the vaccination rollout, and suggested that care home vaccinations were slowing down the overall effort. However opposition parties have dismissed the excuses from the First Minister and demanded a faster rollout.

As Scotland falls further behind in its vaccination drive, there are mounting concerns in the business community that if Scotland fails to match the pace of England, Wales and Northern Ireland in its vaccination programme, Scotland may endure a longer lockdown period – causing more economic damage as well as more lives being put at risk.