Scientists keeping close eye on spread of Indian variant in Bolton

Scientists are keeping a close eye on the spread of the Indian variant across the UK, but there are currently no signs that infection is leading to rising hospital admissions, experts have said.

Professor Steven Riley, from Imperial College London, said that whether the road map for England continues on its planned trajectory was "a Government decision'' but suggested the UK was currently in a good place, although variants were being watched.

On Wednesday, the European Medicines Agency said it was "pretty confident'' that vaccines currently in use will be effective against the Indian variant - a view echoed by some British scientists.

Three types of the Indian variant have been identified in the UK, one of which is a variant of concern.

Professor James Naismith from the University of Oxford, however, said not enough was known to say for sure whether the variant could frustrate the UK's vaccination programme.

"The vaccines don't 100% prevent infection for people,'' he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"What they do is, they almost 100% prevent hospitalisation and serious illness.

"We don't know enough to know yet whether the Indian strain will behave differently than that.

"So even the regular virus can infect people who have been vaccinated and sometimes you do get reinfection.''

Prof Naismith said he did not believe local restrictions would work to contain the variant.

Elsewhere, Professor Adam Finn, from the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), suggested there was no firm plan for vaccinating teenagers and younger children.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has submitted a request to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that all over-16s in Bolton, along with the rest of the Greater Manchester area, are able to receive a Covid-19 vaccination to mitigate the risks of spread in those communities where we are seeing more transmission''.

SAGE due to hold emergency meeting

Earlier, Professor Paul Elliott, director of Imperial College London's React programme, cited the Indian variant when asked whether the study's latest data supported a move into the next stage of easing lockdown restrictions.

He said: "It is a difficult question because we have low levels of prevalence in the community, and we've got low levels of disease in hospitals and deaths, so that's good.

"But I think that the patterns in the Indian variant are cause for some concern.''

He added that further studies are needed to really understand the characteristics and the spread of the Indian variant, which appears to be at least as transmissible as the Kent variant.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) is reportedly due to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the spread of the Indian variant, amid fears it could have an impact on the Government's road map out of lockdown.