The Scottish Government must commit to providing everyone over 40 with their second dose of the Covid vaccine and everyone over 18 with their first dose by the next review of restrictions on the 28^th of June, Scottish Labour has said.

Scottish Labour has said that only by acting quickly and decisively can the Scottish Government contain the rising case numbers and bring Scotland’s vaccination programme up to speed.

Most recent case data shows that Scotland has the highest rate of Covid in the UK, yet, vaccination figures show Scotland trailing behind England on the administration of second doses and badly behind Wales who have vaccinated over 86 per cent of their adult population.

Despite this, as of Monday the 7^th of June, there were over 900,000 unused Covid vaccine doses allocated to Scotland – nearly three times as many as Wales (320,477).

Commenting, Scottish Labour deputy leader and health and social care spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The Scottish Government is currently failing in its duty to oversee a successful roll-out of the vaccine.

“In Scotland, the prevalence of the virus is substantially higher than it is in Wales where there has been a much more successful roll-out of the vaccine.

“Despite hundreds of thousands of vaccines being stockpiled, many Scots are still awaiting their first dose and Covid rates are rising alarmingly.

“The time for dither and delay, for obfuscation and whataboutery, is over.

“Scottish Labour is clear – the Scottish Government must set a deadline of the 28^th of June to double vaccinate everyone over 40 and deliver a first dose to everyone over 18.

“Only such an ambitious target will protect the public health of the people of Scotland and bring Scotland’s flagging vaccination programme and spiralling case numbers back on track.”