Tens of thousands of unvaccinated students from around the UK will arrive in Scottish cities next month when universities go back, prompting fresh calls for teenagers to be jabbed.
Matt Crilly, president of the National Union of Students Scotland, said that more than 30,000 university students and 10,000 college students aged 16 to 18 had no hope of receiving a vaccination before they returned.
Speaking on The Sunday Show, on BBC Radio Scotland, he said: “We should be doing all we can to get students vaccinated.” He added: “I would love to see on-campus vaccination clinics.”
Only 23 per cent of people aged 18 to 29 have had both doses, and 72 per cent have had a single dose. Coronavirus appears to be retreating in Scotland but it is still surging in the north of England.
In a leaked paper, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that the Delta variant, the main strain in Scotland, was as contagious as chickenpox. The British Medical Journal says that chickenpox infects three quarters of children.
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The US is vaccinating everyone over the age of 12 but the UK has set its threshold at 18 for healthy young people.
Gregor Smith, Scotland’s chief medical officer, has declined to depart from UK guidance, despite being free to do. He has written to request a review by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises on vaccine distribution.
Teenagers aged 16 to 18 are the most prominent age group in Scottish colleges, and account for 23 per cent of the student population. Universities are expected to continue teaching some students online, even after Nicola Sturgeon lifts most restrictions on August 9.
Universities Scotland, which represents Scotland’s higher education institutions, said students should not expect “the immediate resumption of large lectures” when universities return.
The University of Edinburgh said it would continue to hold large lectures virtually and planned to “deliver a mix of in-person and digital teaching”.
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Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen said it was working to a one-metre social distancing requirement.
The University of Abertay in Dundee and the University of the Highlands and Islands are offering a “blended approach” while the University of St Andrews said “the option to study entirely online will continue to be available”.
Stirling University said larger lectures involving groups of more than 50 people would remain online, and up to a third of lectures at Scotland’s Rural College will be virtual.
The University of Glasgow said it was still formalising its plans.
