BBC News
Published
Euphoria at the return of indoor hospitality and hugging has not reached every part of Scotland.
While most of the country went into level two and most islands skipped to level one, Glasgow and Moray remain under tighter restrictions.
Hospitality businesses have expressed anger at the 11th hour change of heart.
And concern mounts in East Renfrewshire which now exceeds Moray s Covid case rate but has been allowed to ease restrictions.
Last Tuesday, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that all mainland areas with the possible exception of Moray were expected to move to level two rules this week.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Covid-19 chairman for JCVI, said: Safety remains our number one priority. We have continued to assess the benefit/risk balance of Covid-19 vaccines in light of UK infection rates and the latest information from the MHRA on the extremely rare event of blood clots and low platelet counts following vaccination. As Covid-19 rates continue to come under control, we are advising that adults aged 18 to 39 years with no underlying health conditions are offered an alternative to the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, if available and if it does not cause delays in having the vaccine. The advice is specific to circumstances in the UK at this time and maximises use of the wide portfolio of vaccines available.
NHS Ayrshire and Arran reported the single longest consultant vacancy with a post empty for nine years.
Responses by health board. NHS Highland did not respond to FOI NHS Tayside, which has faced scrutiny over its mental health services, reported than 10 out of its 15 re-advertised consultant vacancies were for psychiatrist posts. In Dumfries and Galloway, the health board said it had advertised for two elderly care consultants on 24 separate occasions without a single applicant, and for a diabetes consultant 23 times with only two applicants. NHS Lanarkshire said one of its consultant posts has been filled by a locum since October 2016, while NHS Fife has had a consultant radiologist post empty for five years.