Questions and answers

Question reference: S5W-35139

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what discussions (a) Public Health Scotland, (b) NHS boards and (c) other stakeholders have had with accommodation providers to ensure access to the COVID-19 vaccines for people who are (i) refugees and (ii) seeking asylum.

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.

Question reference: S5W-33793

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 04 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Jeane Freeman on 11 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government whether, as part of the COVID-19 vaccination programme, antibody tests will be offered to people who are taking immunosuppressant medication for conditions such as Crohn’s and colitis in order to confirm the efficacy of the vaccine in such cases.

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.

Question reference: S5W-34058

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccinators it plans to recruit.

This information is outlined in the published 'COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan 2021’: Coronavirus (COVID-19): vaccine deployment plan 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

Availability of vaccine supply is a key factor in determining the size of the vaccination workforce deployed at any given time and we are in ongoing dialogue with Health Boards regarding workforce requirements as the programme progresses.

Question reference: S5W-34056

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Tuesday, 15 December 2020
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 10 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many COVID-19 vaccine doses it estimates will be available by the end of each of the next five months.

This information is outlined in the published 'COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan 2021’: Coronavirus (COVID-19): vaccine deployment plan 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)

We are working to get vaccines to everyone as quickly as we can, and hope to have vaccinated all those on the JCVI prioritisation list by the end of spring 2021, but these assumptions on delivery are predicated on available supply. Should the pace of vaccine approvals increase, or the volume of vaccine being delivered increase, we will move swiftly and flexibly to deploy them.

Overall a total of 1,759,750 people have received the first dose of the COVID vaccination and 115,930 have received their second dose, as of 7 March 2021.

Question reference: S5W-35564

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 26 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Kevin Stewart on 9 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many applications have been made to the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund, and how many of these have been unsuccessful.

As at 1 March 2021 there have been 678 applications to the Tenant Hardship Loan Fund. Of these applications 243 have been unsuccessful, against a total of 113 successful applications.

5 applications were ineligible for support (three no longer in the property, one for a commercial property and one property out-with Scotland. 15 applications were withdrawn. The remaining 307 applications are currently being processed.

The loan is one part of a range of measures to help renters who are struggling. We want people to access the most appropriate form of financial support and tenants are encouraged to seek advice on their circumstances and explore other options which may be more sustainable for them such as Housing Benefit or Discretionary Housing Payments.

Question reference: S5F-04894

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Monday, 08 March 2021
Current Status: Taken in the Chamber on 11 March 2021

To ask the First Minister for what reason the Scottish Government has chosen not to extend the reduction to Land and Buildings Transaction Tax beyond March.

Question reference: S5W-35141

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how (a) Public Health Scotland, (b) NHS boards and (c) other stakeholders will support people seeking asylum who are experiencing difficulty travelling to or accessing COVID-19 vaccination sites.

Question reference: S5W-35137

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how many people who are (a) refugees and (b) seeking asylum are included in each COVID-19 vaccination priority group.

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 are working with community leaders and frontline services to adapt our delivery and communication models to reach as many people as possible. Our goal is to ensure all adults in Scotland are included in this Covid-19 vaccination programme. We do not hold the information you have requested centrally.

Question reference: S5W-35138

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Wednesday, 10 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government how it will ensure that all people who are seeking asylum, regardless of immigration or asylum support status, will have access to the COVID-19 vaccines.

Question reference: S5W-35174

Asked by: Pauline McNeill, MSP for Glasgow, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 11 February 2021
Current Status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 5 March 2021

To ask the Scottish Government what guidance has been produced for GPs regarding the disposal or return of unused COVID-19 vaccines.

We have been clear we expect health boards to minimise wasted doses of vaccine, and have provided them with best practice advice on how to achieve this.

Some wastage is unavoidable for a variety of reasons based on the characteristics of the vaccine, logistical issues with cold chain supply, storage failure and/or specific clinical situations such as a breakout of COVID-19 in a care home.

Any wastage is reviewed to ensure any preventable loss is avoided in the future. We will continue to monitor wastage rates and regularly report back.

A waste management reporting tool has been established to learn why waste is arising so that solutions can be put in place to minimise waste. It will also provide the ability to extract data on the number of doses not able to be used for various reasons.

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