NICOLA Sturgeon has praised the "whopping" increase in vaccines given out in Scotland.

Speaking to the Covid briefing, she said 928,122 people in Scotland have received the first dose, up 61,299 from Monday.

"That is, forgive my colloquialism, that's a pretty whopping increase of 61,299 since yesterday," she added.

It is the highest daily figure recorded in Scotland so far.

Sturgeon said 928,122 people have been given a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, up 61,299 from Monday.

The First Minister said everyone over 70 and who is clinically extremely vulnerable will be vaccinated by mid-February.

Sturgeon explained the focus will then switch to second doses, requiring the conservation of vaccine supplies.

She said over the second part of February the supplies of vaccine coming in to Scotland are expected to "slightly dip".

This will be a UK-wide issue and will require a balance between first and second dose distribution.

Sturgeon said Scotland is still on track to have vaccinated everyone on the JCVI priority list by the start of May.

The FM also said another 58 people in Scotland have died of Covid in the past 24 hours.

A further 822 cases were also confirmed in the past 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 7.2% The deaths, recorded among people who had tested positive in the previous 28 days, bring the total under that measurement to 6501.

Some 1618 people are in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19, 54 fewer than 24 hours previously.

Of those, 112 are in intensive care, an increase of four.

READ MORE: Another 58 people die in Scotland after contracting Covid-19

A total of 277 of the new cases were in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, 159 were in Lothian and 93 were in the Forth Valley health board area.

The remaining cases were spread across 10 other health boards.

The overall number of cases in Scotland is now 187,542.

Speaking at the Scottish Government’s briefing, the First Minister said: "Every single life lost over the course of this pandemic has been a source of grief and heartbreak – and again, I want to send my deepest condolences to every family who lost a loved one and is grieving as a result."