Mosque running vaccination clinic 12 hours a day amid Glasgow outbreak

A mosque in Glasgow is operating as a vaccination site for 12 hours a day in order to ramp up protection for younger adults in Scotland’s worst coronavirus hotspot.

People aged between 18 and 39 living in the Glasgow postcodes of G41, G42, G5, G51, and G52 are being offered vaccines early amid surging local cases, linked to the variant first detected in India spreading in the city’s Southside area.

Glasgow Central Mosque will be open to administer jabs from 8am until 8pm every day until further notice. It tweeted: “If you live in postcodes G41, G42, G5, G51 or G52 and are aged 18-39, you have been identified as a priority to receive a Covid-19 vaccination and an appointment has been reserved for you.

“You will be asked to attend to receive your first vaccination against Covid-19 soon, by either a text inviting you to make an appointment or a letter with a date through the post.”

Glasgow has Scotland’s highest coronavirus rate, recording 109.9 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 16 May, a rise from 104.6 cases in the week to 15 May.

While most of Scotland saw local restrictions eased from Monday, with the rest of the mainland entering level two and several islands going into level one, Glasgow and Moray remained in level three measures following outbreaks. The measures are to be reviewed within the week, though Scotland’s national clinical director Prof Jason Leitch warned on Sunday that “it may well be” that Glasgow has to remain in level three for more than an extra week.

Under-40s are also being offered the vaccine in Moray, where the coronavirus rate has fallen to sixth place, with with 40.7 cases per 100,000 people, down from fifth position with 48 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to 16 May.

Prof Leitch said a contingency supply of vaccines is being used in hotspots as well as expanded testing. Authorities are also trying to track down people who have missed vaccine appointments.

He told BBC Breakfast: “We’ve got to be slightly more cautious about that route because of supply. We simply do not have 60 million vaccines for every person in the country, we’re getting them, they’re coming, and by the end of July we will have offered every adult a single dose, let’s be clear, but we can use some contingency vaccines for these hotspots Bolton, Glasgow, Moray, so we can do it.”

He pointed out that vaccination takes three weeks to work “so it doesn’t help us tomorrow” – but “familiar” measures such as testing and social distancing can do.

Prof Leitch said: ”So we’re testing everything that moves, we’re putting it through letter boxes, we’re setting up testing clinics in mosques and community centres, so if you live in these areas where the numbers are rising, get tested, get the positive tests off the street, then we can get a hold of it and then Glasgow and the other areas can continue on the route map.”

In the rest of Scotland, it is mainly over-40s being offered vaccine appointments.