Nicola Sturgeon: 'I will have the vaccine publicly but will not jump the queue'
First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said she would take the Covid-19 vaccine publicly to reassure people but would not want to "jump the queue".
Speaking on the ITV Peston programme, she said she had been feeling a "lightness of heart" following the Pfizer vaccine approval but acknowledged there were uncertainties over how to get the vaccine into care homes.
"I will take the vaccine, I suppose what I don't want to do is jump the queue for the vaccine because the JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) have recommended that those at most clinical risk should be front of the queue," she said.
"But as soon as I am eligible for the vaccine, I will take the vaccine, I will take it publicly if that helps to assure people.
"I will be encouraging my parents who will be further up the priority list than I am to get the vaccine, I will do everything I can to encourage people to get vaccinated."
She said it was a "positive day" but insisted that "no corners have been cut" in terms of the regulation process by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
She added: "People should have confidence in the efficacy of the vaccine, but also confidence that at long last we can start to see the end to this pandemic come into sight."
However, she dismissed Health Secretary Matt Hancock's suggestion that the vaccine might not have been approved so quickly if Britain was still in the EU.
"I just think on that point he's factually wrong - and I don't really want to get into criticising Matt Hancock today because it's a day when I think all of us are feeling quite positive and optimistic," she said.
"And he's been on the front line of this, so I'm sure he's feeling that sense of relief and a bit of lightness of heart that I've been feeling all day today.
"The vaccine has been authorised in the UK under existing EU legislation which is still in place in the UK, where countries can if they choose to do, authorise outside the European Medicines Agency framework in situations of a health crisis."
Asked if the fact the UK will be among the first to administer the vaccine showed the benefits of being part of the union, she said: "Look, we work together on certain things, just as on the European Union they will work together through the European Medicines Agency and if Scotland was independent right now, we would probably still choose to work together on things like drugs and vaccine approval, because it makes sense to do that given our geography.
"Independence for Scotland is not about turning our backs on co-operation, it's about an equal partnership where we co-operate when it makes sense."
But she still urged caution when celebrating Christmas, adding: "If I think about my own father in his 70s, I'm desperate to see him - I've not seen him since July - but I don't want to put him at risk on Christmas Day when he is potentially so close to getting vaccinated.
"Let's just keep our eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel now and try to operate between now and getting to the end of this pandemic where we try to minimise the number of people who get the virus, who fall ill with it, and who die from it."
Also on the programme was former Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt who joked that he has "never wished" to have his former job back during the pandemic.
He said it was a "great victory" that the UK was the first in the world to secure the vaccine but acknowledged there are hurdles including the distribution of the vaccine to care homes but added: "We have to recognise this is a good news day."
Asked if the vaccine should be made mandatory, he said: "Trust is very important and the vast majority of people sees the logic that it's a good thing.
"If you made it mandatory for anyone it would be counterproductive."
However, he said he was "devastated" when the government cut foreign aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income.
He added: "I feel very very sad and I hope the government thinks again on that... the trouble with a measure like that is it becomes very difficult to reverse."