Delays in the vaccination programme could affect the easing of lockdown restrictions, a health expert warned. 

Mark Woolhouse, professor of infectious disease epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh, warned he was nervous about the easing of restrictions in the summer. 

Nicola Sturgeon announced she hoped that all of Scotland will move to Level 1 of coronavirus restrictions by early June and to Level 0 by the end of that month.

READ MORE: Half a million Covid-19 vaccines given out in Glasgow health board

Meanwhile, in England all legal limits on social contact are expected to be removed after June 21. 

Professor Woolhouse told the Andrew Marr Show on Sunday: “I have to say I am a little bit nervous about a full relaxation in June.

“Obviously we all want to relax as far as it is safe to do so and it will be important that the Government continues to be guided by the data in that respect.

“This is the particularly important thing, exactly how well are the vaccines performing? If they are going at this rate, I think we can get quite close to a full release."

He added: “It’s not just the actual number of vaccines given out but the coverage, particularly of the most vulnerable groups.

“So far we have got through a lot of those vulnerable groups, at least with the first dose, and the coverage has been excellent – in the high 90 per cents [sic].

“But, yes, if we do have delays in getting people vaccinated the second time around, that’s going to slow things down."