Glasgow to accelerate vaccine rollout to 18-39 year olds in bid to control Covid case surge

Teenagers and other young people in Scotland's largest city are to be vaccinated in a desperate attempt to stem a surge in Covid cases that is threatening Nicola Sturgeon's lockdown exit plan.

The Scottish Government said residents aged between 18 and 39 in the affected areas of the south of Glasgow are to be invited for vaccination and extra doses will be allocated to the area. It has been warned the outbreak may be linked to the faster-spreading Indian variant.

Residents in two postcode areas covering Pollokshields, Strathbungo, Govanhill and Toryglen have also been sent letters urging them to get tested and mobile testing units have been deployed to the communities.

Officials said the "ambition" was still that the city would move with the rest of the country, apart from Moray, from Level 3 to Level 2 of Ms Sturgeon's five-tier system of restrictions on Monday.

The two-metre social distancing rule is to be scrapped in private homes and gardens, hospitality premises will be permitted to serve alcohol indoors and six people from three households will be allowed to meet inside.

However, the Scottish Government said the situation was being monitored and warned that the decision to move down a level was "always subject to developments."

Professor Rowland Kao, chair of veterinary epidemiology and data science at the University of Edinburgh, told the Daily Telegraph: "There’s a reasonable chance that something like a local circuit breaker, just a pause may be necessary."

The developments came as Boris Johnson said he was "anxious" about the Indian variant and was "ruling out nothing" to tackle it amid fears that stage four of his lockdown exit timetable for England - scheduled for June 21 - could also be delayed.

There has been mounting concern over the spike in infections in Glasgow, with latest data showing the case rate is 70.9 per 100,000 people - well above a key threshold for easing restrictions and more than double the nationwide figure of 28.5.

Pollokshields West has a current case rate of almost 730, with Pollokshields East at 695. The rapid spread of the virus in the city's south side has been blamed on people mixing in their homes.

Jason Leitch, the national clinical director, yesterday insisted the outbreak was "relatively contained." Glasgow contains more than 630,000 people and keeping it in Level 3 would be a severe blow to Ms Sturgeon's aim for Scots to move out of lockdown together.

The First Minister has already been forced to warn that Moray is likely to stay in Level 3. It currently has a case rate of 98.1 per 100,000 - well above a key threshold for easing restrictions.

Genomic sampling is underway in Glasgow to determine if the Indian variant is contributing to the surge. There have been 35 cases of the strain identified so far in Scotland.

Linda Bauld, professor of public health at Edinburgh University, said that if this is the case, the response from the Test and Protect contract tracing service "needs to be super-robust".

Calling for a "localised approach" to identify cases, she said: "There is over 600,000 people living in Glasgow city authority, it seems perhaps premature to say once again... the whole city can't move” down a Level.

Prof Kao said that while “data so far suggests there’s nothing to be too concerned about” the Indian variant being vaccine resistant, “it would be better to be cautious”.

“All it might take is a bit more effort to get numbers down low enough, to get more vaccinations into the area, delaying things a bit and then everything will be okay,” he said.

“Take the hit now, and if it turns out to be a false alarm then you’ve lost a week or two but if it turns out worse you’ll be really glad you did it."

The Scottish Government said a "multi-agency incident management team led by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GGC) is actively working to stem the spread of Covid-19 in the south of Glasgow."

"As a further control measure GGC are accelerating activity in line with JCVI recommendations by bringing forward vaccination of those aged 18 to 39 from these areas," a spokesman said.

“This increased vaccination will include re-offering to those in eligible cohorts and deploying additional vaccine stocks to accelerate deployment in remaining cohorts in affected areas."

He said the "intention has not changed" to move Glasgow to Level 2 but added: "Moves down through the Levels for all areas are always subject to developments in the epidemic, however, and we are monitoring the situation in Glasgow and remain in close contact with local government and public health leaders."

Dr Linda de Caestecker, the health board's director of public health, said: "The rise in cases in certain areas of Glasgow is a cause for concern, particularly at a time of such progress in the fight against the virus across NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

“A rise in household mixing seems to be the principal reason for the increase. I do understand the temptation to think if we can do it on Monday, why not just do it now, but to prevent further increases in case numbers, I would urge everybody to stick to the rules as they are now, not as they are likely to be in a few days’ time.

“In addition, we are seeing new variants that are more transmissible and that is another reason why we cannot be complacent at this critical time."

She said Glasgow was scheduled to drop to Level 2 "at the moment" and urged residents to do everything they could to stop the virus spreading, including using the lateral flow testing kits on offer.