More than half of Scotland’s adult population has received a coronavirus booster vaccine.
On Wednesday, Public Health Scotland figures showed 50.7% of over-18s had already received a third dose or booster shot of Covid-19 vaccine.
Despite complaints of booking issues, long queues and mass cancellations of appointments, Scotland is the first of the UK’s four nations to reach the milestone.
Health secretary Humza Yousaf thanked the “brilliant team” involved in the vaccination programme.
All adults in the country are now eligible for a booster jab after those over the age of 18 were able to book an appointment from Wednesday morning.
Following advice from the four UK chief medical officers, people will no longer have to wait for 15 minutes after receiving an MRNA vaccine.
Instead, in Scotland it has been recommended that there is an observation period of five minutes.
It comes as an additional 100 Armed Forces personnel have been deployed to accelerate the vaccine rollout amid a wave of Omicron infections.
As of Tuesday, 544 people were in hospital with confirmed Covid-19, of whom 38 people were in intensive care.
Scotland recorded 22 deaths and 5155 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has asked people to reduce contact with other households in the run-up to, and in the aftermath of, Christmas.
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