Vaccinations hit highest daily total since rollout began

Almost 53,000 people have been vaccinated against coronavirus in Scotland in the past 24 hours.

A further 52,839 people have received their first dose – the largest number in a single day since the programme began.

The latest stats bring the total number of people having received the first dose to 839,266 and 10,582 having received their second dose.

More than 12 million people in the UK have now had at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.

The Scottish Government also confirmed seven Covid deaths and 584 new cases were recorded overnight.

It brings the death toll of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days to 6438.

The report shows 185,792 people have now tested positive in Scotland.

The daily test positivity rate is 6.9% up from 5.9% on Saturday.

Meanwhile 1710 people are in hospital with recently confirmed coronavirus, a reduction of 19 from the previous day.

That includes 108 people in intensive care, with this total having fallen by nine in the past 24 hours.

A record 52,839 vaccinations in 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 yesterday 👏
839,226 have now had first dose, inc 99.5% of older care home residents, 90% of staff in older adult care homes, 94%+ of over 80s living in community, 64% of those aged 75-79 and 26% of 70-74 yr olds. On track to hit all targets.

— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) February 7, 2021

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon hailed the record figure for vaccinations on Twitter on Sunday afternoon.She wrote: “A record 52,839 vaccinations in Scotland yesterday.

“839,226 have now had first dose, inc 99.5% of older care home residents, 90% of staff in older adult care homes, 94%+ of over 80s living in community, 64% of those aged 75-79 and 26% of 70-74 yr olds.

“On track to hit all targets.”

Health secretary Jeane Freeman said: “Today’s figures show a record increase in the number of people vaccinated in Scotland – with a rise of 52,839 reported in those receiving their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

“This is testament to the vaccination teams in health boards across the country who are working seven days a week to achieve this.

“The vaccination programme is one of three key ways we are working to beat this virus, along with our expanded testing programme to identify cases and break chains of transmission and the important lockdown restrictions everyone in Scotland must follow.

“All these measures work to greatest effect when they work together.”

Earlier on Sunday, Freeman said all Scots could be vaccinated against coronavirus “in the summer”.

The health secretary said: “Our ambition is to get through all those 4.5 million adults aged 18 and over in the summer.”

However, she added “at this point it is not very sensible to give specific dates because there are a number of unknowns”.