Question reference: S5W-34194
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 21 December 2020
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Current status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 20 January 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether police officers will be included on the priority list for COVID-19 vaccinations.
Answer
The Scottish Government are following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) Guidance in the planning of vaccine delivery. This evidence based guidance advises that the single greatest risk of mortality from COVID-19 is increasing age, and that the risk increases exponentially with age. Additionally the committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide direct care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination.
Currently there is no sectoral prioritisation of any workers other than frontline health and social care workers. This is because we don’t know if the vaccine prevents spread, but it does reduce the harm to those most at risk should they catch the virus. Individual members of the police force as with other occupations will be called forward for vaccination according to their position on the priority list, if they are eligible within the JCVI Cohorts.