More than five million vaccine doses issued as First Minister warns of ‘bump in the road’

More than five million vaccine doses have been issued in Scotland, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Tuesday.

She hailed the news as a “significant milestone” in the vaccination programme.

As of Tuesday morning, 3,138,366 first doses have been issued while 1,881,214 second doses have been administered.

Ms Sturgeon also discussed the so-called Indian variant, which she described as a “bump in the road” in the country’s move out of lockdown.

She said with more of the country getting vaccinated, there were hopes that lockdown restrictions would not need to be so aggressive in future.

“Case numbers are rising just now but it’s important to keep that in context,” she said.

The First Minister said there were signs vaccination might be breaking the chain of transmission, and added: “If that does prove to be the case, we hope that our response to this virus can evolve as well.”