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Scotland’s Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon urged trust in the Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine and encouraged people to continue to come forward to receive it.
At a daily press conference in Edinburgh on Monday, Sturgeon said: “People should have confidence in the vaccine and I think the number of people who come forward suggests that people do.”
His comments come a day after South Africa halted the launch of the Oxford / AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine after early data from a study showed it offered “minimal protection” against mild or moderate illness caused by the variant. of the most contagious virus first identified there, known as B.1.351.
“The subjects in the trial, as far as I understand it, were predominantly healthy young adults, but it is still believed that the vaccine could protect against severe disease from this new variant,” he said. He continued: “Let me, as a final point, emphasize that the vast majority of viruses circulating in the UK is what is called the B 117 variant, the one that was identified, just before Christmas, and the AstraZeneca vaccine appears to have similar , in other words, good efficacy against that strain compared to previous strains. Therefore, people should continue to get vaccinated, with AstraZeneca with confidence ”.
Sturgeon said five cases of the South African variant have been identified so far, as well as one ‘likely case’ in Scotland, all with travel associations: “That is important because it means that while we monitor this carefully, right now, we have no evidence of community transmission in Scotland “.
Meanwhile, Sturgeon said that “vaccine passports” should not be discarded forever in the UK, as proof of vaccination is already required to travel to certain countries. It comes after UK Vaccine Minister Nadhim Zahawi rejected the idea on Sunday, but said people could request proof of vaccination from their doctor if necessary to travel to other countries.
“I’m not sure it’s correct to rule them out forever, but I certainly think it’s premature to think of them as a concept at this point, given some of the uncertainties we still have around the vaccine, [such as] its impact on broadcasting, “Sturgeon said, also pointing to the” ethical issues “surrounding justice, after Zahawi said it would be” discriminatory. “
“Does that mean never, ever? I don’t think it’s cool to see that right now. But I don’t think it is something that is feasible or desirable in the immediate future, ”he said.
