Mass vaccination centres in NHS Lothian are facing 'critical' staff shortages as Edinburgh battles rising cases of Covid-19.
The health board has issued an urgent alert for volunteer vaccinators to plug gaps in shifts this week.
A source claimed the health board has up to 400 shifts unfilled until Thursday.
A text seen by The Herald states: "Covid mass vaccination centres are in a critical position on Monday 31 May.
"We urgently require vaccinators in all sites this week. Please consider helping the NHS in this difficult period".
Edinburgh has seen an increase in newly diagnosed Covid cases in the past week, with one area - Davidson's Mains and Silverknowes - named as having the highest rate in Scotland.
READ MORE: Coronavirus Scotland: 526 new cases in 24 hours and no new deaths
The city recorded a further 74 cases of coronavirus today and daily rates put it above the Level 2 threshold.
The First Minister is expected to announce on Wednesday if Glasgow can be dowgraded to Level 2 after the city's exit was paused amid 'uncomfortably high' cases.
Pharmacists have claimed major cities including Glasgow and Edinburgh are experiencing vaccinator shortages due to a decision to downgrade their payments - from £66 per hour, which dentists and other staff receive, to £15, the same rate as nurses. The decision is said to have led to hundreds of locum pharmacists abandoning the vaccination programme.
READ MORE: John Swinney 'optimistic' that Glasgow could be placed in Level 2 next week
One pharmacist said: "Their treatment is the main reason why pharmacists left.
"If they treated us on level terms, none of this would have been an issue.
"In England, it is around £30 per hour for everyone, why couldnt NHS Scotland pay this for everyone?"
In response NHS Lothian said it was standard practice to ask volunteers to support the core vaccination team.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has denied it is experiencing shortages of vaccinators but has issued a number of alerts appealing for help to staff centres.
The health board has launched drop-in sessions for the over-40s for missed or delayed first and second doses. Young people aged over 19 are also being targeted in the south of the city, where cases are high.
READ MORE: Pub linked Covid outbreak in highlands now described as 'significant'
Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has revealed the scale of a vaccine letters error, admitting 12,500 Scots did not recieve their blue letter on time following an IT glitch.
Officials said the "administrative issue" which saw a batch of the appointment letters delayed by a mistake affected thousands of patients across six different health boards including the Greater Glasgow region.
The First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, apologised for the error at Friday's Covid-briefing.
Pat Wynne, Nurse Director of Primary and Community Care, NHS Lothian, said:
“In line with new national guidance, we are accelerating our vaccination programme to call forward people aged 30 - 39 in cohort 11, while completing second dose appointments and those who have rescheduled. This will mean an increase of 11,000 people this week.
“It is standard practice for us to ask our qualified vaccinator volunteers to support our core team, when required to ensure we can vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.
“This is a massive programme and our teams are working hard to vaccinate as many people as possible and we do appreciate your patience and understanding.”
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