A SECOND Covid vaccine is expected to be approved for use in the UK early this week, paving the way to mass vaccination for the over-80s in Scotland.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is reportedly on track to be approved before Thursday - and possibly as early as today or tomorrow .

Ministers are drawing up plans to start inoculating the public with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jag from January 4, with "mass vaccination centres at sports stadiums and conference venues" set to launch in the second week of January, according to reports in the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times.

Scotland's Health Secretary Jeane Freeman said last week that, if the vaccine was approved before the end of December, she anticipated that "we will be able to commence vaccination from primary care locations from Monday January 11".

READ MORE: What next for Scotland's care sector as experts look to Sweden and Netherlands for inspiration?

More than 56,000 frontline health and social care workers and older care home residents in Scotland have already been given the Pfizer Covid vaccine, after the UK became the first country in the world to approve it.

However, the Oxford vaccine was expected to be prioritised for mass immunisation programmes because it is easier to transport and store.

It will also mean that the immunisation programme can be scaled up and accelerated, as millions of doses are already on standby. 

It comes as AstraZeneca chief executive, Pascal Soriot, signalled a "winning formula" in the vaccine's ability to prevent disease.

Clinical trial results caused a stir when it emerged that the Oxford vaccine appeared to be only 62 per cent effective when participants were given two doses, but puzzlingly more than 90% effective when they were given one and a half doses - although the latter group did not include anyone over 55.

Both the Pfizer and US-made Moderna vaccines had achieved more than 90% efficacy with two doses.

Mr Soriot said: “We think we have figured out the winning formula and how to get efficacy that, after two doses, is up there with everybody else.

“I can’t tell you more because we will publish at some point.”

He added: "We would have preferred a simpler set of results, but overall we thought these are positive, they meet the criteria established by regulators around the world.”

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The UK is under pressure to accelerate the rollout of mass vaccination amid a huge surge in cases in London and the south east linked to a new, mutant strain of the virus which is believed to be up to 70% more infectious and to have originated in Kent.

The same variant has spread and was found to be causing an estimated 38% of Covid infections in Scotland in the week to December 18, according to random population sampling carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

Two cases of a second, even more transmissible South African strain were also detected in the UK last week, in London and the north of England.

The UK variant has now been identified in France, Spain, Denmark, Italy, Iceland, Switzerland, Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as around the globe in Australia, Japan and Lebanon.

Most cases have been linked to UK travellers, but a couple found infected in Ontario, Canada, had no known travel history to the UK or high-risk contacts.

The UK variant has been detected in Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire, and is suspected to be driving a "rapid increase" in cases in Dumfries and Galloway.

Health officials say 64 Covid infections have been confirmed in Wigtownshire, but they expect the outbreak to grow, while at least one case of the variant has been detected in lower Annandale.

READ MORE: Nearly 40% of Covid cases in Scotland linked to UK mutant strain

Scotland reported 740 new cases of coronavirus overall in the past 24 hours, with a test positivity rate of 12.3% - the highest single day rate since the calculation method was updated in August.

Mr Soriot said work was underway to make sure that the Oxford vaccine could still protect against disease in people infected by one of the variant forms.

He said: “So far, we think the vaccine should remain effective. But we can’t be sure, so we’re going to test that.”

The EU has now begun the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine, while the US is poised to begin issuing the Moderna vaccine within days after it was given emergency use authorisation by regulators.