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The Scottish Government has not yet received details from the UK Government of the costs of security associated with the Managed Isolation programme, and therefore does not yet know what this represents as a percentage of the overall cost of quarantine. However, the Scottish Government is aware that costs incurred are not charged to the UK Government on a per person basis in relation to the number of guests using Managed Isolation, as numbers of security personnel required can vary from location to location depending on factors such as number of flights to be met, journey times on transport services, and numbers of floors in occupation in quarantine hotels.

The Scottish Government has announced it will publish its annual 'Homelessness in Scotland: Update to 30th September 2020' statistical publication on 23 March 2021. This publication covers data for the period 1 April to 30 September 2020, alongside data from January to March 2018.

In addition the Scottish Government will publish annual homelessness statistics covering data up to 31 March 2021 later this year. The publication date for this release is yet to be finalised.

Publications are published on the Scottish Government Homelessness Statistics Webpage: Homelessness statistics - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Vaccinations are taking place differently across Scotland to reflect the needs of local communities. NHS Scotland Heath Boards are responsible for the local delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. As such, Health Boards are responsible for making decisions regarding local delivery in line with the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guidance. This includes how to deliver vaccines to those with underlying health conditions.

Information is provided to healthcare practitioners via the Green Book, which holds the latest information on vaccines and vaccination. The Green Book states for cohort 6, the JCVI priority list is not exhaustive and there may be people, with a particular underlying health condition, who would benefit from earlier vaccination based on the clinical judgement of a clinician looking after the person on a case by case risk assessment.

Due to the flexibility of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s eligibility criteria for Cohort 6, it isn’t possible to provide a population size for Cohort 6.

As of March 2021, 162,881 people who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable have received their first dose.

Those aged 64 years or under and considered to be at risk in the 2020-21 Seasonal Flu Vaccination Programme, were 757,926. The Scottish Government encourages all those who are eligible for both the Covid-19 and the seasonal flu vaccines to accept their invitation when offered an appointment.

Vaccinations are taking place differently across Scotland to reflect the needs of local communities. NHS Scotland Heath Boards are responsible for the local delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. As such, Health Boards are responsible for making decisions regarding local delivery in line with the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) guidance. This includes how to identify people with underlying health conditions.

Information is provided to healthcare practitioners via the Green Book, which holds the latest information on vaccines and vaccination. The Green Book states for cohort 6, the JCVI priority list is not exhaustive and there may be people, with a particular underlying health condition, who would benefit from earlier vaccination based on the clinical judgement of a clinician looking after the person on a case by case risk assessment.

Vaccinations are taking place differently across Scotland to reflect the needs of local communities. NHS Scotland Heath Boards are responsible for the local delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine. As such, Health Boards are responsible for making decisions regarding local delivery in line with the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation guidance. This includes how to deliver vaccines to those who are housebound.

Patient information which would indicate whether a person is housebound is not held within the Scottish Government. We are therefore unable to advise what proportion of housebound people have received their COVID-19 vaccine.

As of 11 March 2021:

• 19,252 care home residents have received 2 doses of the vaccine (64% of residents in older adult care homes and 60% of all care home residents).

• 262,621 people aged 80 or over have received their first dose (97%).

• 194,675 people aged 75-79 (99%) have received their first dose.

• 278,452 people aged 70-74 (99.9%) have received their first dose.

• 289,008 people aged 65-69 (97%) have received their first dose.

• 151,828 people aged 60-64 (44%) have received their first dose.

• 145,496 people aged 55-59 (37%) have received their first dose.

• 121,830 people aged 50-54 (30%) have received their first dose.

• 162,881 people who are Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (91% of the shielding list) have received their first dose.

Guidance has been issued to boards on the correct process for managing waste. This was circulated to boards at the end of January.

A contingency plan should be put in place to manage the risk when less vaccine than expected is used during a clinic. Examples include maintaining a reserve list to ensure vaccine is not wasted (e.g. care home or front line health and social care staff or second doses). Ideally this should be from within the same cohort however the JCVI has also indicated that there should be some flexibility in including other cohorts concurrently. If the remainder of the vaccine is in un-punctured vials, which are still in the fridge, consider whether subsequent orders can be reduced. Sites should be aware of local arrangements with other immunisation services who would be able to utilise the spare vaccine within short notice.

While at this stage there is little known with regard to projected uptake and attendance rates, scheduling teams and planners should liaise to monitor this closely in order to ensure the pharmacy is supplying an optimal number doses and maximising the use of the supply chain.

A copy of the guidance at present is not online, but is currently being prepared for publication and will be available at : Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The Scottish Government is clear that everyone who is resident in Scotland is entitled to access health care. This includes people who are seeking asylum. Our goal is to ensure all adults in Scotland are included in this Covid-19 vaccination programme. We will work with community leaders and frontline services to adapt our delivery and communication models to reach as many people as possible.

Public Health Scotland completed a national Health Inequalities Impact Assessment (HIIA) of the Flu and COVID-19 vaccination programmes in November 2020, with representation from NHS Board and Local Authority Equality Networks. This considered potential barriers and solutions for a range of groups, including refugee and asylum seekers. This has been built into the communications and delivery plans for the programme. The Scottish Government is working with NHS Boards to ensure they are supported to draw on the HIIA and related work.

The Scottish Government is also working with faith based, third sector and community groups to reach out to more people from deprived communities to increase the vaccine uptake.

We have put in place financial and practical support to ensure all parts of our community have the knowledge and confidence to participate in this vaccination programme and to remove any practical barriers.

The above mentioned steps will ensure that vaccine information is accessible and culturally appropriate – and delivered by trusted voices such as community leaders to all hard to reach groups including asylum seekers and refugees.

A copy of the guidance at present is not online, but is currently being prepared for publication and will be available at: Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

The guidance at present has been shared widely across programme and boards.

At present there are no plans to roll out mass antibody testing, pre or post vaccination, to people who are taking immunosuppressant medication for conditions such as Crohn’s Disease and Colitis, in order to confirm the efficacy of the vaccine. Although the immune correlates of protection are currently unknown, antibody tests may be offered for specific clinical reasons and this should be discussed with the relevant medical practitioners.