THE PRIME Minister has suggested a vaccine being developed in Scotland could be “potentially much more resistant” to mutated strains of the virus.
Mr Johnson was speaking after visiting the production of a vaccine in Livingston, stressing 60 million doses of the jag could be available “by the end of the year”.
He travelled north of the border and said he was “thanking people across the whole of Britain for what they are doing to support our fight against Covid”.
The Prime Minster also said he will work with the Scottish Government on the rollout of the vaccine “to speed things up”, following criticism that Nicola Sturgeon’s progress is “falling behind”.
Speciality vaccine company Valneva has started commercial manufacturing of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate in Livingston, but is still yet to be approved by regulators for use.
A total of 60 million doses have already been secured for the UK, with an option to acquire a further 130 million if the vaccine is proven to be safe, effective and suitable.
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Mr Johnson said the development was “a great success for Scotland”.
He added: “They are on the path, I hope and believe, to creating a successful vaccine. If that vaccine is approved by the NHRA – then we’ll have 60 million doses of it by the end of this year for the whole of the British people.
“It’s a success for Scotland, it’s a success for Britain. It was very, very encouraging to see it.”
The Prime Minister said the vaccine has “real potential” to be more effective against mutated strains of Covid-19, if it gets the thumbs up from regulators.
He said that the Valneva vaccine “takes not just part of the DNA of the coronavirus but the whole coronavirus organism to inoculate people”, adding that “you would get a vaccine that was potentially much more resistant to variants than perhaps some other vaccines”.
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He added: “That’s something that’s being developed here in Scotland. It’s something that may or may not come off but will be of massive benefit to the whole country.”
Earlier, Scottish Conservative Holyrood leader, Ruth Davidson, challenged the First Minister on the “slow vaccination rate”, stressing there is “genuine concern across Scotland at the pace of the rollout”.
She claimed the Scottish Government has so far had “around one million vaccines available for use”, as she questioned whether doses are getting out to GPs quickly enough.
Ms Davidson said: “We’re six weeks into the vaccine delivery plan, we’re three weeks into the community rollout, and throughout that time GP after GP has been expressing their frustration at supply issues.”
Ms Sturgeon insisted “way more than half” of the doses allocated to Scotland have already been administered.
Speaking during First Minister’s Questions, she said: “We have allocations of doses, we draw those down, they come into health boards and go to GPs.
“Of the doses that have come into Scotland so far, more than half, way more than half, are already in the arms of people and the others will be going into the arms of people over the coming days.
“This allocation we have got, we have got to plan for how we use that to vaccinate all the groups we have prioritised within the timescales we have set.”
Mr Johnson was asked about the criticism of the vaccine being rolled out at a slower pace in Scotland than other parts of the United Kingdom.
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He said: “We’re here to help speed up the rollout everywhere and we’ll certainly work with the Scottish authorities to do that.”
The Prime Minister added: “I'm concerned about vaccine delays anywhere in the UK.
“At the moment I’m concerned about what’s happening in London as well as other parts of our country.
“I will work with the authorities in Scotland to speed things up where we possibly can. That’s the objective of having the UK Government working hand in hand with the devolved administration to get things done.”
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