THE Covid vaccination programme in Scotland is well under way and I’m pleased to say that it is already making significant progress.

Last week we published our overall deployment plan, outlining how by the end of February, we will have the workforce and infrastructure to vaccinate 400,000 people each week.

As of now, we already have more than 1100 vaccination sites that are operational across the country – which includes more than 750 GP practices and a number of community sites.

At the weekend, the UK’s biggest mass vaccination centre so far got under way at the NHS Louisa Jordan hospital in Glasgow.

Vaccines will be administered in care homes, in people’s own homes, through GP surgeries, local vaccination clinics, community pharmacies, mobile vaccination units and mass vaccination centres.

So far, at the time of writing, almost a quarter of a million people in Scotland have received their first dose of the vaccine. By the time you are reading this, the number will have grown again.

The total number vaccinated includes over 80% of residents and over half of staff in older adult care homes, and half of frontline NHS and social care staff.

Last week I was pleased to see NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde becoming one of the first health boards to have offered all care home residents the first dose of the vaccine – an extraordinary feat and one that is only possible thanks to the hard work and dedication of staff.

The progress of the vaccination programme gives us all hope in these dark times, and I know we are all keen to know when we will be offered the jag.

When it is your turn to be vaccinated you will be contacted by your local health board by letter or phonecall – and at that stage, I strongly urge you to take up the offer and get vaccinated.

Speeding up the vaccination programme is our route out of this pandemic.

But while we do that, we must also slow down the virus – to stop people getting ill, protect the NHS and save as many lives as possible.

Unfortunately, as part of the lockdown that is intended to achieve this, schools have had to be closed to the majority of pupils.

I’m aware that this is particularly stressful for young people, teachers and, of course, parents having to juggle work with home schooling.

We want to get schools back open again just as quickly as possible – which is another reason for us all to stick to the lockdown rules to get the virus back under control.

In the meantime we know that more support is needed to help schools and families deal with the challenges of home learning.

We’re providing a new package of £45 million in funding to local authorities, to enable them – as they see fit – to hire extra staff, supply more digital devices to pupils, and provide other home learning resources.

This funding is on top of £160m already committed since the start of the pandemic which has helped recruit an additional 1400 teachers and over 200 support staff.

I am so grateful to the thousands of dedicated teachers and support staff who are working hard to plan, prepare and deliver lessons in such difficult circumstances.

I’m also really grateful to the children, young people and families who are having to cope again with home schooling – we hope it will be for as short a period as possible.

In these tough times, it is really important that we all look after our mental health.

There are very few people right now who are not struggling in one way or another – worrying about jobs, missing loved ones, or feeling anxious about people we care about.

For some, that pressure will be particularly acute and so it is important to know that there is help available for those who need it.

If you feel that you might need some help, there are lots of suggestions and advice on the Scottish Government’s website – clearyourhead.scot – about how to look after our mental health and stay as positive as possible.

The National Assistance Helpline – 0800 111 4000 – which was set up back in April is also still open and taking calls.

The helpline is open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and is there to support people who don’t have friends or family close by to call on for help, or for those who can’t easily access online services, or just for anyone who needs help that they have no-one else to turn to for.

For example, it can help with deliveries of essential food and medicine, provide emotional support, or put you in touch with volunteer groups.

The helpline is there for anyone who needs it, so please use it if you can’t get support in other ways.

I know this feels like a particularly difficult time in the pandemic but there is help and hope is out there.

So let’s stick with it. By following the rules and guidance, staying at home and only going out for essential reasons, we will get to the other side of this more quickly.