A POLL has revealed which famous Scots the public would like to see involved in a campaign to encourage Covid-19 vaccination take-up.

NHS England is reportedly drawing up a plan to enlist “sensible” celebrities and influencers to help boost take-up amid fears of vaccine scepticism

During the 1950s the King of Rock and Roll Elvis Presley was famously photographed getting his polio vaccination before appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show – the resulting campaign was successful in getting more young people to receive the jag.

Experts have theorised that a similar idea could be used now Covid-19 vaccines are being approved by medical regulators in record time.

A poll, carried out by Diffley Partnership and ScotPulse, asked 1144 Scots: “Which, if any, of the well known Scots listed below do you think could be used to encourage as many people as possible to take [the vaccine]?”

  1. Andy Murray (25%)
  2. Billy Connolly (24%)
  3. David Tennant (24%)
  4. Lorraine Kelly (20%)
  5. Jason Leitch (20%)
  6. Kevin Bridges (17%)

Alex Ferguson, Janey Godley, Ewan McGregor, Chris Hoy, Elaine C Smith, Susan Calman, James McAvoy, Brian Cox (below), Gerald Butler, James Cosmo, Judy Murray, Richard Madden, Edith Bowman and Kelly Macdonald also received votes.

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The poll asked more generally about coronavirus vaccination too, finding the vast majority of Scots will take it when they are offered it. More than three-quarters said they would definitely receive it while just 6% said they won’t.

Mark Diffley wrote: “A more detailed look at the data highlights few significant differences in attitudes among population sub-groups.

“In terms of opposition to taking the vaccine, women are slightly more likely than men to be opposed (7% versus 4% of men), while those at either end of the age scale are more supportive of taking the vaccine than those in the middle age groups; so, just 4% of those aged under 35 and 3% of those aged 65+ say they probably or definitely won’t take the vaccine, while this rises to as high as 9% among those aged 45-54. In truth however, these differences are not hugely significant.”

Speaking at FMQs yesterday, Nicola Sturgeon confirmed more than 5000 people in Scotland have now been vaccinated for Covid-19 as the roll-out gets going.