Cameron presses Scottish Government to seek Army support for vaccine roll out

The Shadow Health Secretary, Donald Cameron, has written to Jeane Freeman following reports that the Scottish Government has failed to request help from the UK Armed Forces to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Scottish Conservative MSP said: “It’s frankly shocking that SNP ministers are not deploying the full power of the state to deliver the vaccine.  If there is one resource that has the expertise in logistics to respond to an emergency it’s the Armed Forces."

“As we know, rural and remote areas present big challenges when it comes to vaccine distribution, particularly during the winter months, so why on earth aren't SNP ministers on the phone to the Ministry of Defence asking for significant assistance in rolling out the vaccine?"

“The army is doing sterling work elsewhere in the UK in support of the civil authorities and should be given the same opportunity here in the Highlands and Islands.”

 

 

The text of Donald Cameron’s message to Jeane Freeman is provided below for information:

 

Dear Jeane

Support from armed forces in COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Highlands and Islands

I write to you regarding the above matter.

I was concerned to read recent media reports that several communities in the Highlands and Islands region have not yet received COVID-19 vaccines, and that many vulnerable people in these communities have not yet been vaccinated at the same pace as those in more densely populated parts of Scotland.

I note from your remarks today in the Scottish Parliament that there are currently 33 members of armed forced personnel assisting with the COVID-19 vaccination programme, and that more vaccines are due to be received in the coming weeks.

With that in mind, I wanted to know if the Scottish Government has considered seeking further support from the armed forces to help administer vaccines in the more rural and remote communities in the Highlands and Islands, and if not, why not?

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely etc…

 

 

More on this story here: https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/politics/uk-politics/2808067/scottish-vaccine/

 

 

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donald cameron

Donald Cameron

MSP, Highlands & Islands Region
Originally from Achnacarry in Lochaber, Donald was educated at the University of Oxford, and graduated with a BA in Modern History (first class honours). He then worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC – a think-tank specialising in international relations.

SNP Failures

The SNP has become the Sorrow of Scotland: an incompetent cabal driven by a divisive and malign Nationalist Socialist ideology, implementing destructive policies that have seen areas like the economy, education, health and justice wrecked. It is doing real harm to tens of thousands of Scots, but the SNP sees that as a price worth paying to tear apart the Union.
The SNP's ever-growing list of failures in government, and its all-consuming obsession with separation and the destruction of the Union, need to be exposed for what they are: the on-going betrayal of the people of Scotland by an incompetent SNP cabal incapable of making good decisions or exercising good governance. Make no mistake: these are deliberate political decisions, driven by an ideology that does not care what harm it does to Scotland and its people.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, sadly, highlighted just how incompetent key SNP ministers have been, both in preparing for and then coping with such an emergency. The cover-up and blame-avoidance mentality has come to the fore, and - as ever - it is the most vulnerable in Scotland that are paying the price of repeated SNP failure.
On this page you will find a selection of the great swathe of SNP failures, reminders of how the tired and increasingly incoherent SNP government continues to pile catastrophe on chaos. The SNP continues to pursue its destructive obsession with separation - despite the clear and once in a generation democratic decision of you, the Scottish People, to back the Union and reject the core Nationalist policy of separation and division.

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