First batch of Moderna vaccine arrives in Scotland

The first batch of the Moderna vaccine has arrived in Scotland.

More than a million doses have been ordered for Scotland but will arrive over a series of months.

It’s the third approved vaccine to be made available in the UK after AztraZenica and Pfizer.

Almost 2.6m people in Scotland have already received at least their first dose of the jab.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the arrival of Moderna batches during a Covid briefing on Tuesday.

She said: “It is important to stress that the Moderna vaccines will arrive over a period of months – not all at once and the doses we expect to receive are already factored in to our forward projections.

“The arrival of this first batch doesn’t mean that we are able to accelerate the vaccination programme. The speed of vaccination is already taking account of the expected Moderna supplies.

“Nevertheless, the fact that we now have three vaccines in use is clearly very welcome and it does give us additional security of supply which is important.”

The arrival comes as UK health secretary Matt Hancock said the Valneva vaccine, which is set to be manufactured in Livingston, produces a “strong immune response”.

Data from an early-stage phase one/two study involving 153 people showed promising results for the jab, paving the way for phase three clinical trial.

The vaccine was safe and generally well tolerated, with no safety concerns identified by an independent data safety monitoring board.

The company said the results showed the vaccine was “highly immunogenic with more than 90% of all study participants developing significant levels of antibodies” to the Covid virus spike protein.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the findings were “very promising news” and the jab would be a “crucial weapon” against the disease providing it gained approval by regulators.