Major Covid warning from Scots professor after ‘horrid’ battle with virus

A Scottish university expert has issued a major Covid-19 warning after a horrid battle with the virus.

Professor Eleanor Riley, from the University of Edinburgh, told of the “nasty” bouts of Covid amid low levels of immunity among the UK population. She described her recent battle with the virus as ‘horrid’ and claimed it was “much worse” than expected.

She added: “People’s antibody levels against Covid are probably as low now as they have been since the vaccine was first introduced. Now, because antibodies are lower, a higher dose [of the virus] is getting through and causing a more severe bout of disease.”

A huge increase of people have tested positive for the virus down south, with 5,975 confirmed cases in the seven days leading to December 9 – an increase of more than 38 per cent compared to the previous week, reports Edinburgh Live.

Scientists specialising in immune systems have said Covid is still causing infections that could be worse in their symptoms than previous waves.

BBC News reports that scientists specialising in immune systems are warning Covid is still causing infections that could easily be worse than before vaccines were rolled out.

Prof Peter Openshaw, from Imperial College London, added: “The thing that made the huge difference before was the very wide and fast rollout of vaccines – even young adults managed to get vaccinated, and that made an absolutely huge difference”.

With fewer people being offered a booster vaccine this winter, Prof Openshaw said it’s possible that a lot of people could end up having a “pretty nasty illness that is going to knock them out for several days or weeks”.