One of Scotland's top coronavirus experts has warned over a more relaxed border policy, as cases of the Indian variant increase.
Devi Sridhar, a professor at Edinburgh University, has been a key advisor to Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish Government throughout the pandemic.
Now, the professor has raised her concerns over the Indian variant of coronavirus, which the World Health Organisation have marked as being of 'global concern'.
You can find all the latest news on the Indian variant on our LIVE blog here.
As the strain continues to cause devastation in India itself, around 30 cases have been identified around Scotland.
However, a sudden jump in cases in both Moray and Greater Glasgow and Clyde has caused concerns that the variant is spreading quickly, however this has not been confirmed.
Taking to social media today (May 13), Prof Sridhar stated that vaccinations will need to be rolled out quicker to cope with the fast transmission of the variant.
In a tweet, she said: "My simplified take on B1617 (Indian variant): 1st concern is that it's more transmissible -> have to vaccinate faster to cover under 50s within weeks (ease slower). 2nd concern is whether our vaccines are as effective against it. Mixed signals from S. Asia- no hard evidence yet."
However, the professor also added that a relaxed border policy from the UK government is allowing variants the opportunity to enter the country.
Discussing the difficult balance between essential travel and tight borders, she added:
"One problem is a lax border policy that allows these variants in. Totally get that aviation sector needs support and people need to see families/loved ones.
"The cost for easy international mobility has been recurrent domestic lockdowns. Vaccines, testing and sequencing way to open up safely."
However, in a positive twist, Prof Sridhar added that she has heard good news from the industry that the current vaccines should be effective against the new strain.
A tweet said: "On the more optimistic side, listening to colleagues I respect like @EricTopol @jburnmurdoch and others makes me think that vaccines will continue to be effective even against 1617.
"The challenge then is about transmissibility: speed of spread vs speed of vaccinations."
It comes as 345 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in Scotland on Wednesday, just days before level two restrictions will be applied to mainland Scotland, with level one to be introduced in the island communities.
However, a decision is still to be made over whether Moray will stay under level three regulations, with Nicola Sturgeon adding that Glasgow is also being 'closely monitored' after a sudden surge in cases.
