NICOLA Sturgeon is set to update the nation on the latest plans to ease lockdown in Scotland.
The First Minister will deliver a speech to MSPs in Holyrood about the current state of the coronavirus pandemic.
The spread of the now dominant Delta variant appears to have scuppered the Government’s original timeline for lifting restrictions.
National clinical director Jason Leitch has warned the “horrid” variant has “changed the game”.
Scotland was due to move into Level 0 on June 28, however it is thought that the emergence of this new variant could push this date back to as far as September.
In England, Boris Johnson announced that the plan to ease lockdown on June 21 will be pushed back by up to four weeks.
Sturgeon will speak in Holyrood at 2pm today. The speech will be broadcast on Scottish Parliament TV and BBC Scotland. We'll also be bringing you all the latest updates in our live blog.
READ MORE: Scotland's lockdown easing could be delayed by weeks, Jason Leitch warns
Speaking yesterday, Leitch said a four-week delay for first doses could allow nine million second doses across the UK, but said the Government was “trying desperately” to not impact the vaccine rollout for younger people.
The professor explained: “The Delta variant has changed the game in one crucial way. Everything still works – distancing, ventilation, handwashing all still works – but what’s new about the Delta variant, and this is horrid, and we’ve learned it increasingly over the last few weeks, is the second dose is required for decent protection.
“You get about 30% protection from one dose, you get 80 to 85% from two.
“So therefore, if you’re thinking of this as a timeline, we’ve lost about eight to 10 weeks on that journey.
“We vaccinated about half the country’s adults twice, now we need to get that up.”
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