Nicola Sturgeon has ‘Donald Trump-style meltdown’ over missed Covid vaccine target

Nicola Sturgeon slams 'interpretation' of her vaccine targets

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Last month, the Scottish First Minister planned to fully vaccinate everyone in their 40s by July 26, however, official figures suggest around a quarter of people in the age group were yet to receive a second dose. Ms Sturgeon claimed the target had been met as the people had been offered a jab even if it was not yet administered.

Attacking critics and Holyrood rivals at her virus briefing, she said she had assumed a “certain level of intelligence” from those listening and said her words should not have been taken at face value.

Annie Wells, the Scottish Tory health spokeswoman, accused the First Minister of treating the public “like fools”.

“In a Trump-style meltdown for the ages, the First Minister claimed she was communicating at a more intelligent, higher level than the rest of us,” she said.

“Her defence for missing a key vaccine target seems to be that nobody understands Nicola except Nicola.

“People hoping for answers to serious questions instead got a truly bizarre rant.

“She talked down to us mere mortals because we had the audacity to believe she had meant what she said in the Scottish Parliament.”

On Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said her plans should not have been taken as a pledge as this would have been unrealistic.

More than 90 percent of Scottish adults aged between 40-49 have received their first dose.

However, official figures show just 77.3 percent of the same demographic have been fully jabbed – falling far short of Ms Sturgeon’s target.

At the briefing, the First Minister added that there would have been a “clamour of questions” about the target had it been a pledge.

She said: “In fact I don’t think there was a single one– asking me how on earth I was going to deliver that commitment?

“When I communicate, and I apologise if this is an error, I kind of communicate at a level where I assume a certain level of intelligence on the part of people listening to me, because I think that’s justified.

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“And I assume a certain ability to attach context and common sense to what I am saying.”

Ms Sturgeon later apologised to a reporter who had asked her about the missed targets.

The comments come as new Covid cases in the UK continue to decline.

Daily cases in Scotland have decreased from over 4,000 on July 1 to exactly 1,000 new daily cases by July 26.

Scotland’s data reflects the UK’s situation as a whole with cases dropping in the last few weeks from over 50,000 daily cases to under 25,000.

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