Scotland’s papers: Johnson’s ‘reckless’ visit and army jab boost

image captionThe National leads with the prime minister’s tour of the Valneva vaccine factory in Livingston as part of his trip to Scotland last week. A number of coronavirus cases had been reported among staff at the site earlier in January and the SNP said that meant it was “reckless” for Boris Johnson to visit.

image captionNews that the British Army is to start administering the coronavirus vaccine in Scotland for the first time makes the front page of The Scotsman.

image captionOn the prime minister’s visit to Livingston, The Metro reports Mr Johnson as saying he was unaware of any cases before he visited the facility.

image captionThe Scottish Sun leads with the army help for the vaccine rollout, which will see medics and management staff make up a “vaccine quick reaction force” to be deployed across Scotland at short notice.

image captionThe army deployment comes as Nicola Sturgeon is “still defiant” about the pace of the vaccine rollout in Scotland, reports the Scottish Daily Express.

image captionThe Daily Telegraph also reports the army vaccine support for Scotland, which has been lagging behind the other three UK nations in the overall percentage of people it has vaccinated.

image captionCovid has exposed a “creaking and fragile” social care sector in Scotland, according to the front page of The Herald.

image caption“10 million” is the celebratory headline on the i newspaper, which points out it has taken 57 days to give a first dose to 15% of the UK population.

image captionThe Times reports that the UK is now past the peak of the second Covid wave. However, although hospital admissions and deaths are falling it will be months before the pressure on the NHS is eased, the paper says.

image captionThe Daily Record reports on plans to shake-up the way social care is organised in Scotland.

image captionA mix-up which saw people arrive at a Highlands Covid vaccination clinic that was shut makes the front page of the Press and Journal.

image caption“Now let’s give Sir Tom a statue,” is the Scottish Daily Mail’s headline, reporting that Boris Johnson has endorsed the paper’s call for a lasting memorial to the “national hero”. It also says Britain “came to a standstill” to mark Capt Sir Tom’s passing with applause.

image captionA metal detectorist finding an engagement ring 30 years after it was lost on a Broughty Ferry beach makes the front page of The Courier.

image captionThe lead story in the Dundee Evening Telegraph is about three people facing torture charges over an alleged attack in the city.

image captionThe death of a popular publican in Aberdeen is the lead on the front page of the city’s Evening Express newspaper.

image captionA fight in a garden makes the front page of the Glasgow Times.

image captionThe possible expansion of Edinburgh’s tram line is the lead story in the city’s Evening News newspaper.

image captionThe Daily Star covers warnings from police to social media trolls after high-profile people, including Marcus Rashford and Captain Sir Tom Moore, were recently targeted by “sad keyboard warriors”.