Covid jabs are 'almost certainly less effective' against the Indian variant of the deadly virus, a top British expert has warned.
We told today how people in Scotland who have already been vaccinated against coronavirus are being treated in hospital for the new Indian variant.
This was one of the driving factors for the Scottish Government deciding to keep Glasgow in a higher level of lockdown.
A source told how there are believed to be six patients – who have had the vaccine – currently being treated for complications suspected to be related to the variant which has been deadly in India.
Professor Anthony Harnden, the deputy chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "The vaccines may be less effective against mild disease but we don't think they're less effective against severe disease.
"But in combination with being less effective against mild disease, they're almost certainly less effective against transmission."
The Daily Star reports that he also defended the approach of bringing forward second jabs rather than speeding up the rollout to younger people.
Professor Anthony Harnden told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that targeting more vulnerable people with full immunity is a "better strategy".
He said: "The reason we think this is if we immunise 18-29 year olds, for instance, in these areas we'll be taking vaccines from somebody else in the country.
"The vaccines may be less effective against transmission and immunity takes a number of weeks to develop, so it's not a very good strategy for preventing transmission, what we want is to prevent disease.
"From a vaccination strategy it just won't help mass-vaccinating a number of young people at the expense of older people who haven't been vaccinated."
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday took action to halt the spread of Covid-19 in the city and the Moray region by halting lockdown easing in both areas.
Amid fears of the Indian variant spreading in Glasgow, she announced that it and Moray would stay in Level 3 for at least a week – affecting about 700,000 people.
The rest of the country is looking forward to more freedoms with a move to Level 2 on Monday, which includes drinking alcohol inside pubs and restaurants and being allowed to visit people inside their homes. Sturgeon said travel to both areas should be for essential reasons only in a bid to stop the transmission to other parts of the country.
