Highland politician in plea for transplant patients to be given vaccine priority

North politician Edward Mountain has welcomed Nicola Sturgeon’s response to his plea for transplant sufferers to be prioritised for the Covid-19 vaccine.

The Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP highlighted the difficulty throughout constituency questions with the First Minister, and requested her to lift it with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which advises the UK well being departments.

Ms Sturgeon stated that she would anticipate transplant sufferers to be prioritised by the JCVI and that Scotland’s well being secretary Jeane Freeman would examine the matter.

“I do know a variety of joint work has gone into figuring out the precedence for vaccine supply,” Mr Mountain informed Ms Sturgeon. “Organ donation which results in a transplant is likely one of the best presents that may be given, and certainly obtained.

“I’ve had constituents contact me who’re presently on the transplant record however aren’t prioritised for receipt of the Covid vaccine. I consider there’s medical and public assist for making certain these awaiting a transplant are given the perfect probability of being Covid-free when they’re ultimately known as in.

“Will you ask your advisers to urgently increase with the JCVI whether or not transplant sufferers needs to be prioritised for the Covid vaccine?”

Ms Sturgeon replied: “I actually will think about this correctly and if that requires us to have interaction extra with the JCVI we will definitely do this.”

She added: “Firstly, I utterly agree with the significance of selling organ donation – it’s the best reward that anybody may give, and once I was well being secretary I spent a variety of time working with clinicians and others to lift consciousness of and improve the charges of organ donation.

“I do know it’s one thing that each one well being secretaries who’ve come after me have taken very significantly as nicely.

“The second level, although, is extra pertinent to the specifics of the query. What are known as the ‘clinically extraordinarily susceptible’ are a precedence within the first JCVI record – I feel it’s precedence 4.

“I, as a non-clinician, would anticipate that many, if not all, transplant sufferers can be included inside that… I’ll focus on with advisers and whether or not we have to tackle that time in every other means. I’ll ask the well being secretary to jot down to the member as soon as we’ve had a possibility to contemplate it.”

Talking later, Mr Mountain stated: “I welcome that the First Minister will think about this difficulty and I look ahead to receiving a solution from the well being secretary.

“I might be completely satisfied to attend barely longer for my vaccine if it meant {that a} transplant affected person didn’t miss out on an organ donation and I’ve written to the cupboard secretary on these phrases.”