DEATHS from Covid in Scotland's care homes are falling ten times faster than in the population as a whole.

The latest statistics from National Records of Scotland show that 68 care home residents died with confirmed or suspected Covid in the week beginning February 1, compared to 116 in the week beginning January 4 - a decline of 41 per cent.

READ MORE: Hotel quarantine will cover just 8% of flights into Scotland next week 

In total, for the population as a whole over the same period, deaths where Covid is mentioned on the death certificate have fallen just 4.6% from 392 to 374.

The Herald: Covid deaths by location, in Scotland, during 2021Covid deaths by location, in Scotland, during 2021

Care home residents in Scotland were among the first to be vaccinated against the disease, along with care home staff and frontline healthcare workers.

Annie Innes, a 90-year-old resident at Abercorn House Care Home in Hamilton, was the first to get the Pfizer/BioNTech jag on December 14.

Total uptake of a first dose among elderly care home residents has now reached 99.8%, with the rollout of second doses for this group due to get underway no later than March 8.

READ MORE: Housebound waiting for jags as families complain of being 'passed from pillar to post'

It is unclear how much of the recent reduction in deaths can be linked to the vaccine as protective immunity takes around two to three weeks to develop.

There is also a lag of around three weeks between contracting the infection and becoming seriously ill or dying, meaning that some residents will already have been incubating the virus at the time they were inoculated.

As the NRS data is based on location of death, it is also impossible to rule out that some care home residents could have become ill and then been transferred into hospital.

Alan McNally, professor microbial evolutionary genomics at Birmingham University's Institute of Microbiology and Infection, said it was difficult to pin down the exact cause of falling care home deaths at this stage. 

He tweeted: "I think at this stage very difficult to untangle myriad of preventative measures from each other. But very encouraging however it is being achieved."

However, emerging evidence from Israel - which has inoculated 41% of its adult population so far using the Pfizer vaccine - is showing significant declines in infection among the oldest citizens, who were first to be immunised.

The Herald: Infections have been falling most dramatically in Israel among the oldest citizens, who were first to be vaccinatedInfections have been falling most dramatically in Israel among the oldest citizens, who were first to be vaccinated

However, Israel has stuck to official guidelines to administer two doses 21 days apart, whereas the UK is spacing doses 12 weeks apart to maximise the number of people given at least one dose.