Care home residents across Scotland are set to start receiving Covid vaccines from tomorrow.
Since the vaccine was made available earlier this week, more than 5,000 NHS workers and those involved in the vaccination program have received the Pfizer jab.
And tomorrow both staff and residents in care homes will start to receive the first of the two required injections needed to provide immunity to Covid-19.
A second dose of the vaccine will be required 21-days later.
The move comes as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) confirmed it can be distributed in smaller pack sizes.
According to the Scottish Government, the Pfizer is delivered in packs of 195 vials, with each containing five doses which need to be diluted before use.
However, it can be transported unfrozen for up to 12 hours and stored for up to five days in an undiluted form between 2c and 8c.
Following the decision by the MHRA, it is now possible to take the vaccine direct to care home residents or nearer vaccination centres.
Cabinet Secretary for Health, Jeane Freeman said: “This is another important moment in our journey through the coronavirus pandemic and I am delighted that we have received the authorisation we need to enable us to vaccinate the most vulnerable people in our care homes.
“Officials in the government and our health boards, along with Pfizer, and the MHRA, have worked really hard to allow this to happen and it is another step on the road to our collective recovery and a return to a more normal way of life.
“We are providing the vaccine to people in care homes according to the order of priority set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) and we will work through that order of priority as quickly as vaccine supply allows.
“We are hopeful that subject to further stringent approvals, other vaccines may meet MHRA approval for supply – for example, AstraZeneca and Moderna – enabling more vaccinations to take place at a faster rate.”
“In the meantime, it remains vital that we all stick to the published restrictions and follow public advice to keep suppressing the virus to as low a level as possible.”