NICOLA Sturgeon launched an attack on Michael Gove for failing to say how many people in cares homes in England have been given the Covid-19 vaccine.

The First Minister hit back at Gove as a row continued over the rates at which people are being vaccinated north and south of the Border.

UK Government figures have accused Scotland of lagging behind in the vaccine race – a claim denied by Holyrood, which insists it has prioritised giving the jab to care home residents, who are most vulnerable to the virus.

However, the work to vaccinate care home residents takes longer as many need to be given the jag in their homes due to them being too frail to be moved to a vaccination centre.

“Michael Gove could not, or would not, give the equivalent figures on how many older people in care homes in England have been vaccinated,” Sturgeon told Holyrood yesterday.

“It is important to know how many people have been offered a vaccination, but I suggest that it is much, much, much more important to know how many people have been given the vaccination.”

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Interviewed on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday, Gove repeatedly declined to say how many people in England’s care homes have received the vaccination, despite attacking the speed of Scotland’s jag roll-out.

The Cabinet Office Minister was speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland (GMS) in the wake of Alister Jack writing to the First Minister to offer Westminster’s help with the vaccine roll-out.

The Scottish Secretary said the UK Government stood ready to help “accelerate” the vaccine programme north of the Border.

Appearing on BBC Radio Scotland’s GMS yesterday morning, Gove was challenged to provide the number of English care home residents who had been vaccinated, rather than comparing overall population stats.

Gove answered: “I think it is the case isn’t it that we’ve seen a significantly higher proportion of people across England than in other parts of the United Kingdom vaccinated.”

The First Minister also told Holyrood Scotland’s vaccine roll-out is “working well” announcing that 649,262 people in Scotland had received the first dose of the vaccine, with 38,484 being given out in the past 24 hours.

On Monday and Tuesday, more than 70,000 people were given their first dose, according to Scottish Government figures, as mass vaccination centres in Edinburgh and Aberdeen opened.

The figure given on Wednesday represented a 59% increase in the number of vaccinations given out compared with the same day last week.

“This vaccination is going well, it’s going well because of the efforts of people across the country but it’s also going well because of the willingness of the public to come forward in such huge numbers to be vaccinated and I’m very grateful to them for that,” the First Minister said.

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She told MSPs that 98% of older people in care homes had received their first dose, as well as 87% of those over the age of 80.

More than a quarter (28%) between the ages of 70 and 79 have also received their first dose, the First Minister said.

When asked by Scottish Tory leader at Holyrood Ruth Davidson about the offer of military help by Jack, Sturgeon said the Scottish Government was already receiving support from the services to tackle the pandemic.

“Any help that the armed forces give to Scotland ... it’s not a favour from the Secretary of State for Scotland – it’s our armed forces that the people of Scotland pay for through their taxes,” Sturgeon said. “So let’s forget the suggestion that it’s somehow the UK Government doing Scotland a favour.” She said the Scottish Government will continue to accept help from the armed forces where appropriate.