The Delta variant brings a hospitalisation risk twice as high as the Alpha, according to a new study.
However, two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine reduce it by 70%, researchers at the University of Strathclyde said.
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The analysis, published in The Lancet, covered 19,543 community cases and 377 hospitalisations among 5.4mln people living in Scotland, including 7,723 cases and 134 hospitalisations that were found to be caused by the Delta variant.
The risk is helped by jabs, as the Pfizer/BioNTech had 79% protection against the strain, compared to 92% against the Alpha variant.
The AstraZeneca PLC (LON:AZN) formulation, instead, had efficacy of 60% and 73% respectively.
However, researchers warned to avoid comparisons between the two vaccines for this particular study due to the difference in population and how quickly they help build immunity.
The Delta variant, which spreads more quickly, has caused concern in the UK, with the government delaying the end of lockdown by a month to avoid a spike in infections.