SCOTTISH Labour has set the government a vaccine challenge as Scotland trails the rest of Britain in the number of residents who have been jabbed.

Opposition MSPs have said the Scottish government must commit to providing everyone over 40 with their second dose of the Covid vaccine and everyone over 18 with their first dose by the next review of restrictions on June 28.

Scottish Labour has said that only by acting quickly and decisively can the Scottish government contain the rising case numbers and bring Scotland’s vaccination programme up to speed. 

Recent case data shows that Scotland has the highest rate of Covid in the UK. 

Despite this, vaccination figures show Scotland trailing behind England on the administration of second doses and badly behind Wales, which has vaccinated over 86 per cent of the adult population.  

As of Monday June 7, there were over 900,000 unused Covid vaccine doses allocated to Scotland — nearly three times as many as Wales.  

Scottish Labour deputy leader and health and social care spokesperson Jackie Baillie called for more to be done to protect Scots from the continuing threat of Covid-19. 

“In Scotland, the prevalence of the virus is substantially higher than it is in Wales where there has been a much more successful rollout of the vaccine,” she said.

“Despite hundreds of thousands of vaccines being stockpiled, many Scots are still awaiting their first dose and Covid rates are rising alarmingly. 

“The time for dither and delay, for obfuscation and whataboutery, is over.  

“Only such an ambitious target will protect the public health of the people of Scotland and bring Scotland’s flagging vaccination programme and spiralling case numbers back on track.”