NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has laid out its roadmap for rolling out the coronavirus vaccination. 

The local health board is urging 45 to 49-year-olds to "roll up your sleeves" as vaccination appointments for those within the age bracket go underway. 

The aim is for all adults within the health board region to be vaccinated by the end of July, depending on vaccine supply. 

Those aged 45-49 years will be followed by the 40-44 cohort, then 30-39 and then 18-29.  

Those under 30 will be offered Pfizer or Moderna vaccines in line with latest guidance from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. 

Glasgow Times:

Dr Emilia Crighton, Deputy Director of Public Health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “We have made great progress in administering more than 560,000 first doses of the vaccine in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and I am hugely grateful to the vaccine delivery teams for how they have responded to this huge logistical challenge.

“Members of the public will be invited when it is their turn to get vaccinated and we ask that they please be patient as we work through the age groups. 

“When you are invited forward, we would urge you to take up the opportunity to get vaccinated.  You can get really ill with coronavirus at any age.

“The vaccine provides our best way out of the coronavirus pandemic and a return, in time, to the things we’ve all missed.”  

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Professor Emma Thomson of the University of Glasgow Virus Research, an expert in infectious diseases, who led work undertaken in Scotland to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, added: “Each vaccine passes through a three-phase testing process, reviewed by independent regulatory and advisory bodies, to ensure it is effective and safe. 

“Licensed COVID-19 vaccines have passed through the same rigorous tests as all other vaccines in tens of thousands of participants who have taken part in trials around the world, and we continue to monitor for side-effects even after licensing in the millions of people who have already received the vaccine.”