Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack, letter to Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, 2nd February 2021
Published 2 February 2021
Applies to Scotland
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The Rt Hon. Nicola Sturgeon MSP
First Minister of Scotland
Scottish Government
St Andrew’s House
Edinburgh
2 February 2021
Dear Nicola,
Our joint mission to vaccinate the people of the United Kingdom is the most important peacetime endeavour this country has ever undertaken.
Protecting the public from COVID-19 offers our best hope of defeating the pandemic and returning to normal life.
After so much pain and loss, and after so many months of difficult restrictions, nothing matters more.
It is essential that all parts of the UK fight the pandemic together so we are able to ease restrictions and exit lockdown together.
As we have agreed previously, there are significant advantages to moving in lockstep on major decisions.
It means we can communicate more clearly and present consistent messages on travel between the UK and our friends and partners overseas.
With Scotland at the heart of our integrated UK internal market, it is also essential for our economic recovery as we strive to protect not just lives but also livelihoods.
I am writing today to restate the UK Government’s full support in rolling out the vaccination programme and fighting the pandemic across the whole country.
I’m sure you would agree with me that it is in everyone’s interests that progress in vaccinating the people of Scotland matches the best efforts of the rest of the UK.
With that in mind, we stand ready to offer any support or assistance we can give you to accelerate your rollout programme.
Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has underlined our open offer of mutual aid between health services around the UK.
My colleague Ben Wallace, the Secretary of State for Defence, has been clear the Ministry of Defence stands ready to work with the Scottish Government on further requests for military assistance.
In the course of the past year, we have learned how working together as one UK is the most effective way to fight COVID-19.
The UK Government has invested more than £300 million in developing vaccines and we have secured 400 million doses. It is thanks to this striking UK effort we can now see light at the end of a very dark tunnel.
The UK Government has established more than 50 walk-through and mobile testing centres across Scotland.
The Glasgow Lighthouse Lab analyses tests conducted in Scotland and other parts of the UK, around the clock.
The British Military has played a key role setting up testing sites and, in recent weeks, has begun a new programme to create 80 vaccination centres across Scotland.
We are in the process of bringing more military personnel into the vaccination programme.
Our health services have also pulled together, with ambulance services in Scotland and England joining forces to ensure calls are answered without delay.
I strongly believe that to put the nightmare of COVID-19 behind us as quickly as possible, we must collaborate as closely as possible.
THE RT HON. ALISTER JACK MP SECRETARY OF STATE FOR SCOTLAND