Scots set to have a booster jab in autumn will likely be offered different brand from their original vaccine in a 'mix and match' approach, according to reports.
Switching up jabs with a third shot later in the year will help protect against new variants and ease supply demand, according to a leaked memo seen by The Mail on Sunday.
It is hoped the "booster" phase can begin by autumn when two more vaccines - Valneva and Novavax - are expected to have been approved, according to the memo.
The guidance, which is reportedly being circulated among senior health officials, says: "It is likely people will be recommended to receive a different brand of vaccine to the brand they received previously during this inaugural programme".
The booster jab rollout is also expected to follow the same priority list as the original jabs, with those most at risk and the elderly to be offered it first, according to the document.
The memo adds the booster jabs will be administered at the same time as the annual flu vaccination. People also will be given health advice, including losing weight and quitting smoking.
It will "also include vaccinations for all 16 and 17-year-olds, and potentially 12 to 15-year-olds too".
It comes as the UK launched a world-first clinical trial to see whether a booster vaccine dose could protect people against variants, including those from India, South Africa and Kent.
Some 2,886 people aged 30 and older are being recruited at 18 NHS sites - including Glasgow - with seven existing vaccines to be tested in the Cov-Boost trial from early June.
Yearly booster jabs are already used to protect against flu, and it is possible Covid vaccines could be topped up in a similar way.
Anthony Harnden of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has said: “it’s going to be likely that we’re going to require an annual boost for a while”.
Speaking on The British Medical Journal’s Talk Evidence podcast, he said: “It just depends on the length of duration of protection.
"The virus mutates, [but it] probably doesn’t mutate as much or as quickly as the influenza virus, so it’s very difficult to predict whether this is going to be an annual vaccine or for how many years."
Trials are being conducted to make sure it is safe to take different vaccines, according to The Mail.
Last month, the Health Secretary announced the start of a Covid-19 "booster" shot trial involving thousands of volunteers.
The study, led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, will trial seven vaccines in the hope that a "booster" will help fight a winter surge of Covid-19.
The Health Secretary said initial results of the trial are expected in September.
