Scottish Covid adviser’s vaccine confusion

Oh dear. During the course of the pandemic, the University of Edinburgh professor of public health Devi Sridhar, has become a regular sight on television screens and comment pages – offering her insights on the best course of action over Covid. In her role on the Scottish government’s Covid-19 advisory group, Sridhar has previously caught Mr Steerpike’s attention for lobbying repeatedly for more SNP powers which she claims are necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus. The snag? There was nothing stopping the Scottish government from quarantining travellers using their own powers, a move that was already planned at the point Sridhar demanded it.

Now the good professor has been accused once again this afternoon of spreading confusion. As government ministers on both sides of the border seek to dispel scepticism over the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine, Sridhar appears to have gone off script. Arguing for a blanket international quarantine, Sridhar made the claim that ‘our main vaccine (AZ) doesn’t work against’ the South African Covid variant.