Chamber and committees

In due course, the committee will publish a report to the Parliament setting out our decision on the statutory instrument.

That concludes our consideration of this item and our time with the Deputy First Minister. I thank him and his supporting officials for their attendance.

I wish everyone a very merry Christmas. Keep safe, and look out for each other.

Good morning, and welcome to the 16th meeting in 2021 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee. This is our last meeting before the recess.

We will take evidence on the latest ministerial statement and on subordinate legislation. I welcome to the meeting John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery; Professor Jason Leitch, the national clinical director; Amanda Gordon, the deputy director of local interventions, outbreak management; and Derek Grieve, the head of the operational vaccines division. Thank you for your attendance.

Deputy First Minister, would you like to make some remarks before we move to questions?

Yes.

Professor Leitch would like to come in.

We all understand the importance of boosters, but 10 per cent of the population are still unvaccinated, and those people are often in our larger cities. A constituent of mine wrote to me recently after watching our meeting on vaccine hesitancy, which took place on 9 December. Angela, in Ayr, who is about the same age as me, said:

“Hi Siobhian,

I wanted to get in touch to let you know that I am just out of the hospital after contracting life threatening Covid-19. I was hospitalised for 9 weeks. I was blue lighted from Ayr, to Crosshouse and was in HDU and ICU with my oxygen level at 38%. I had been unwell for 4/5 days prior and was advised to self-isolate and drink plenty of water and take paracetamol.

Unfortunately, things progressed and I don’t remember much apart from seeing my fiancé and the doctor, then in an ambulance ... Unfortunately, I had not been vaccinated, not because I was against it or anything. I had just landed a new job and missed my appointment as I had to go down south for training ... I sat and watched patients come and go from my hospital bed in HDU, they were a lot older than me, people in their 70s with COPD and Covid but had their vaccinations, and yes they may have been poorly and still required oxygen ... but they were going home after 2 weeks and I watched this happen week after week and felt like an idiot for not getting myself vaccinated. I nearly died, was touch and go a few times ... do not think this thing isn’t real, it’s very real and doesn’t look as if it’s going away anytime soon.

I have been left with Fibrosis and a cluster of clots in my lung, I have panic attacks and palpitations, my anxiety is through the roof, I have covid flashes ... I lost over 3 stone in 5 weeks and have lost most of my muscle mass in my legs and can’t walk from livingroom to kitchen without having to sit down and catch my breath for a few minutes ... I can’t stand for any length of time or go up stairs, I literally am having to train myself to walk again ... I could go on, but I won’t.

I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else, if anyone is hesitant about getting vaccinated then don’t, because however rotten you may feel after getting your jag is nothing compared to nearly losing your life.”

How can we get that powerful message about the importance of getting vaccinated out to the general public, especially to the 10 per cent of people who still have not gone for their first jab?

Due to the developments in relation to the new variant, I know that members have a lot of questions. I therefore ask that witnesses are mindful of time when answering questions. Members will have around 10 minutes each. I will ask the first question.

In the past 24 hours, we have seen record numbers of Covid cases reported since the pandemic began. Last week, the committee had a very sobering briefing with its advisers. A variety of suggestions were made on a range of issues, which may assist us through what we know will be a very difficult winter. Although I understand that this could cross over into the remit of the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, there were suggestions that we need to train up vaccinators as a matter of urgency to roll out the booster in order to free up doctors and nurses, and that we need to limit bed blocking in hospital over the winter. It was also suggested that we should train up people who can help with care over the winter months, for which training and disclosure would of course need to be in place.

Are those the kinds of things that the Government is considering to get us through this difficult winter?

Good morning, and welcome to the 15th meeting in 2021 of the COVID-19 Recovery Committee.

We will take evidence at stage 1 on the Coronavirus (Discretionary Compensation for Self-isolation) (Scotland) Bill. I welcome to the meeting John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Covid Recovery; James Wilson, the head of contact tracing and supporting isolation policy; Michael Tighe, the team leader for Covid-19 legislation and daily contact testing; and Marie Penman, a solicitor in the Scottish Government legal directorate. Thank you for your attendance.

Deputy First Minister, would you like to make any remarks before we move to questions?

Unlike in England and Wales, in Scotland, there has never been a legal obligation to self-isolate. Instead, those rules are explained in guidance. Can you explain why that is the case?

I have one quick question for Jason Leitch, from a member of the public. It is from a concerned citizen in Aberdeenshire. What evidence is there to support the Scottish Government’s new definition, which means that someone who has been in a classroom with a positive case for more than 15 minutes is no longer considered to be a high risk for transmission?

That concludes our consideration of agenda item 1. I thank the Deputy First Minister and his officials. I suspend the meeting to allow a changeover of officials.