Scotland’s vaccine deployment plan taken down

EDINBURGH: Scotland’s deployment plan for coronavirus vaccination has been taken offline after the UK government raised concerns that it disclosed too much detail about supplies.

Nicola Sturgeon said her government’s plan, which was published on Wednesday evening, was taken down due to issues with “commercial confidentiality”.

The Scottish government’s 16-page document set out the supply of vaccine from Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna that it expects to receive each week -- with targets to vaccinate 400,000 people per week from the end of February.

The detail on supply figures is understood to have angered ministers in London, who said publication of the UK’s numbers would lead to suppliers coming under pressure from other countries. The First Minister was asked about the plan at the coronavirus briefing on Thursday.

She said: “It’s been temporarily taken off the website. The UK government have raised concerns about the level of information we included in that on the projected supply of vaccine. I think it is important to be very transparent around all aspects of this, to be clear on the targets we are setting for the numbers of people vaccinated.”—PA