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People on the shielding list were offered a free 4 month supply of a daily supplement of Vitamin D in October 2020. Opt-in was via the Scottish Government shielding text messaging service or the free national helpline. The deadline for sign up was 11 November. Vitamin D was procured through NHS National Services Scotland National Procurement. 71,833 people opted in and supplies were posted from week commencing 23 November and arrived during December. The offer included residents in care homes and those in prison who will receive their supply through individualised discussions and prescriptions where it is of benefit.

Everyone on the shielding list was offered a free 4 month supply of vitamin D as additional information attached to a letter from the Chief Medical Officer on 23 October 2020. The offer included advice, informed by clinical advisors and the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer, about contraindications and toxicity including that people should seek advice from their GP, pharmacist, midwife or health visitor if they had certain conditions or were taking certain medications or vitamin supplements already. Following further discussion with GP representative bodies, this advice was broadened to seeking advice also from clinicians and specialist nurses.

The Chief Medical Officer has issued advice to care homes that residents should be assessed for vitamin D supplementation as part of their regular routine clinical review. It is important that decisions on whether to prescribe vitamin D for care home residents are be taken on an individual basis. This approach ensures that the provision of vitamin D is considered for all care home residents, including those who are on the shielding list, and is prescribed where it is considered to be of benefit.

In relation to patients on the shielding list, they were advised that for most people taking a 10-microgram supplement of vitamin D daily is safe, but there are some who should seek advice first due to certain health conditions or medication. It was explained this is because taking too much vitamin D can cause calcium to build up in your body and this can weaken your bones and damage your heart and kidneys. As outlined above, they were advised to seek advice from their clinician, specialist nurse, pharmacist, midwife or health visitor if they were already taking a vitamin supplement.

Vitamin D is not available through the NHS Pharmacy First Service. Decisions to prescribe vitamin D to people in care homes or care at home settings is a matter for the individual’s clinician.

The Chief Medical Office wrote to care home providers and others including NHS Directors of Pharmacy and Community Pharmacy Scotland on Thursday 21st January 2021 outlining that, residents should be individually assessed for vitamin D supplements as part of their regular routine clinical review. This is to ensure that the supplements would be of benefit and to check the need for co-prescribing with calcium as well as for the other contraindications or side effect. Care home staff are encouraged to discuss this with clinical colleagues as part of routine communication arrangements.

I refer the member to the answer to question S5W-34456 on‎ 29 January 2021. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at

There are no armed forces personnel, regular or reserve, deployed in ICU wards or in patient facing roles in hospitals or other medical settings in Scotland.

A MACA (Military Aid for Civil Authorities) has been agreed with the armed forces to support the Covid Vaccines Programme, with approximately 80 personnel supporting this logistical work. The Scottish Government does not hold information as to whether the personnel deployed are regular or reserve personnel. The MOD are responsible for selecting the people with the necessary skills needed for the task.

Groups (a) and (b) in the question refers to JCVI priority groups 6,7,8,9, as follows:

6. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality and Unpaid carers.

7. All those 60 years of age and over.

8. All those 55 years of age and over.

9. All those 50 years of age and over.

For JCVI priority groups 6,7,8,9 - We expect to start these cohorts in March and aim to complete first doses by early May 2021 as set out in our Covid-19 Vaccine Deployment Plan published 14th Jan 202, subject to availability of supplies.

The Scottish Government has already listed Vaccination sites for January and will continue to do so. NHS territorial boards have led on the identification and provision of vaccination sites and have been supported by the armed forces where required.

As the answer to question S5W-33155 outlined, this matter has been raised with stakeholders including the Clinical and Professional Advisory Group for Care Homes. The Chief Medical Officer wrote to Adult Care Home Providers, Primary care leads and others on 21 January 2021, outlining that all residents in adult care homes should be assessed for vitamin D supplements as part of their regular routine clinical review and that decisions on whether to prescribe vitamin D for care home residents, should be taken on an individual basis. This is to ensure that the supplements would be of benefit and to check the need for co-prescribing with calcium as well as for other contraindications or side effects.

The Agriculture (Retained EU Law and Data) (Scotland) Act 2020 requires Scottish Ministers to lay a report before the Scottish Parliament on progress towards establishing a new Scottish agricultural policy no later than 31 December 2024.

Future rural policy, post-CAP, will be developed in co-production with farmer led groups supported by the Scottish Government.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information.

This year the Scottish Government has increased funding for policing in Scotland by £60 million to more than £1.2 billion. The allocation of these resources across policing priorities is a matter for the Scottish Police Authority and the Chief Constable to determine.

People living in Scotland’s rural areas are less likely to be a victim of crime now than a decade ago, as detailed in the 2018-19 Scottish Crime and Justice Survey, over three-quarters (77%) of those living in rural areas believed that the local crime rate had been stable or fallen in the previous two years.

The Scottish Government will continue to bear down on crime in Scotland, through protecting police budgets as well as through substantial investment in preventative programmes.