Scots will 'probably' need fourth covid jab in 'next few years', says Jason Leitch

Scots could be asked to get a fourth coronavirus vaccine over the "next few years" as immunity from the deadly virus wanes.

National Clinical Director Jason Leitch revealed that research will have to be conducted into when the booster vaccine programme will have to be rolled out again.

Earlier this month Israel announced it was going to give its citizens who are over 50 and have a pre-existing condition a fourth dose of the jab amid concerns over Omicron.

Scots are currently being urged to come forward for their booster vaccine as the rapidly spreading Omicron variant takes hold across the country.

Vaccination centres are set to close later today and won't reopen until December 27, however testing sites will continue to stay open throughout.

Professor Jason Leitch gave an update on the booster programme in Scotland (Scottish Government)

Speaking on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme Leitch said a fourth dose is likely but experts don't know when that will be.

He added: "It would seem that we will probably need some kind of timed booster or next dose over the next few years.

"We don't know that for sure. It may be that we just offer that to the vulnerable or those who are maybe a bit older.

"You can see Israel going first with that they've said over 50s and those with pre-existing conditions, although they haven't started that process yet because the third one isn't waning.

"Remember immunity is like a dimmer switch, not like a light switch.

"If you can turn the dimmer switch up and keep it up then that's what you want to do because this disease is at its worst when it gets people without immunity - whether that's natural immunity, whether they've got a disease that affects that immunity, or they haven't been for a vaccine.

"So that's what we need to try and do and the research will work that out for us.

"We will monitor people who have had third doses now.

"We will take blood from them, will work out where their immunity is and when that begins to wane over time, the joint committee on vaccination will advise us to go again.

"We just don't know when that will be."

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