Fears parts of Scotland could lose new freedoms as Sturgeon urged to speed up vaccines in Covid hotspots

Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to speed up Scotland’s vaccine rollout in Covid hotspots, after her deputy warned that areas with rising virus rates could soon see lockdown restrictions reimposed.

Opponents accused Ms Sturgeon and her ministers of “sitting on their hands” over the roll-out of jabs in Glasgow, which along with Moray has been forced to remain in Level 3, while the rest of the country enjoyed new freedoms on Monday.

Public Health Scotland figures showed there are now 100.3 cases per 100,000 people in Glasgow following an outbreak linked to the Indian variant - more than double the benchmark of 50 for it to join most of the rest of the country in Level 2.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at the University of Edinburgh, warned that the outbreak in the country's largest city would not "settle down quickly" and said it was unlikely experts would feel confident lifting restrictions next week.

Under Level 2, hugs and indoor visits to homes are allowed while hospitality venues are allowed to serve alcohol indoors.

On Monday, John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, admitted that East Renfrewshire could be put back into Level 3 restrictions following a "very, very swift" increase in cases, bringing its rate to 86.9.

Meanwhile, Midlothian's rate increased to 55.2, apparently putting that area at risk of going back to Level 3, although the outbreak in Moray appeared to have stabilised, with cases per 100,000 there falling to 59.5.

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Mr Swinney admitted "there may be circumstances where we have to apply further restrictions once again" to areas other than Glasgow but acknowledged the worst scenario for businesses was "going in and out of restrictions like a yoyo."

However, the Scottish Government faced criticism over a “sluggish” response to local outbreaks, after more than 6,200 people were vaccinated in Bolton over the weekend by English authorities due to a spike linked to the Indian variant.

In contrast, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said it was making vaccines available to people aged 18 to 39 but is yet to finalise plans. The health board said it was “likely” appointments would be available “from this week onwards”.

The outbreak has been associated with younger people who are less at risk of the virus. As of Monday, just one person on the health board area, which serves well over one million people, was in intensive care with Covid while only 26 were in hospital.

Crowds of young people gathered at the Hydro in Glasgow amid reports there were spare doses available. However, officials told the crowd there were only a "few hundred" and the youngsters would have to wait several hours to see if they would get one.

"For months I have badgered the Scottish Government to pull out all the stops,” Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish LibDems, said. “The Scottish Government are sitting on their hands when they need to act decisively.

"In Glasgow and Edinburgh in particular the vaccine rollout is sluggish. On day one the next Health Secretary should commit to speeding up the rollout, particularly in areas experiencing spiking caseloads."

Ms Sturgeon performed a last-minute about turn on Friday by announcing Glasgow would remain in Level 3, only days after stating it would join the rest of the mainland apart from Moray in Level 2. The move dismayed hospitality businesses in the city.

In a letter to Ms Sturgeon, the bosses of Scottish Tourism Alliance (STA) and UKHospitality Scotland said: "Emotions are running very high now within the industry and feelings of resilience and hope are now turning to bitterness and anger which is being directed towards the Scottish Government."

They said many hospitality and tourism businesses had brought in extra staff in the expectation of reopening this week, and the majority of them "will be new and ineligible for furloughed support."

The two trade groups said food and beverage bought in "will go to waste", the travel ban to and from Glasgow has led to widespread cancellations and the £750 support announced by Ms Sturgeon is "significantly" less than what is required for firms to survive.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “We understand the extremely difficult situation faced by local businesses as a result of Glasgow remaining in Level 3, and we are doing all we can to mitigate against the impact of the continuing restrictions, which will not stay in place for a moment longer than absolutely necessary.”

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