The UK has become the first country in the world to approve the Omicron-specific Covid booster that could be rolled out this autumn as the nation prepares for a catastrophic winter.
Produced by Covid jab maker Moderna, the new vaccine has been designed to specifically target Omicron.
It is different from the current generation of vaccines based on the original Wuhan strain and therefore less effective against newer versions of the virus.
UK regulators hailed the approval as providing a new ‘tool in the arsenal’ to combat a ‘constantly evolving’ enemy.
While designed to target the original BA.1 variant of Omicron that ripped through the country in late 2021, Modern’s jab was also effective against BA.4 and BA.5.
These newer versions of the Omicron strain were behind a recent geological spike in Covid cases, now in retreat.
The new Moderna vaccine is likely to be rolled out as part of a recently announced fall vaccination campaign.
Britons over 50 and those with medical conditions that make them vulnerable to Covid-19 will start being called for a booster shot next month.
Health officials want to get as many people stabbed as possible with the aim of keeping them out of hospital as the NHS reaches its busiest seasonal period.
A new Omicron-specific injection made by vaccine maker Covid Moderna has been approved for us in the UK
People over 50, residents and staff at aged care homes and frontline health and social care workers will be given Covid fall boosters. In addition to these groups, people 5 to 49 years of age who are in a clinical risk group, live with someone who is immunosuppressed, or are carers will also be eligible.
The chief executive of the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Dr June Raine, said the drug provided a new weapon in the fight against Covid.
She said: “The first generation of Covid 19 vaccines being used in the UK continue to provide important protection against this disease and save lives.
‘What this dual-value vaccine gives us is a sharp tool in our arsenal to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve.’
Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, chairman of the Committee on Medicines for Humans, an expert panel that advises the Government on medicines, said new vaccines were needed to keep up with Covid.
“The SARS-CoV-2 virus is constantly evolving to avoid vaccine-provided immunity,” he said.
‘This new dual-valued vaccine represents the next step in the development of a vaccine against the virus, with the potential to lead to a broader immune response than the original vaccine.’
A recent Moderna trial of their newest vaccine found it increased the amount of antibodies against Omicron by 5.4 times compared with the older vaccine.
Moderna chief executive Stéphane Bancel said the UK was at the forefront of using the latest advances to protect people from Covid and end the pandemic.
He said: ‘This represents the first authorization of an Omicron-containing dual-value vaccine, further highlighting the dedication and leadership of the UK’s public health authorities in helping to end COVID-19 pandemic.
‘This dual-value vaccine has an important role to play in protecting people in the UK from COVID-19 as we head into the winter months.’
Details on who will get the new Moderna jab or when have yet to be announced.
This will be decided by the Joint Committee on Immunization and Immunization following today’s announcement.
The Commission previously said the autumn boost scheme would provide a boost for Britons younger than 50 with vulnerable conditions.
Other groups include care homes and NHS staff and household contacts of immunosuppressed people, such as cancer patients.
Moderna has made hundreds of millions of doses of its vaccine, which means it can be delivered quickly.
The most recent Covid data shows that the recent summer wave of infections is rapidly collapsing.
Office for National Statistics analysts estimate 2.1 million people in the UK have been infected on any day of the week up to July 26, the latest data available, which equates to around one over 25 people.
This is down 20% from the 2.6 million recorded last week.
Infections also fell in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for the first time in weeks, with experts praising that ‘continues to fall’.
Moderna jab will be securely monitored just like the original Covid jabs and boosters.
It is a bivalent vaccine meaning it contains material from both the original Covid strain and the Omicron variant.
Covid vaccines and subsequent boosters to boost immunity levels have been credited with saving millions of lives and allowing the UK to come out of a stalemate.
Experts from Imperial College London estimated in June that Covid’s jabs saved nearly 20 million lives globally in the first year they were eliminated.
According to the latest data, around 40 million Britons have had three doses of the Covid vaccine, around 70% of the population eligible.
News of Moderna’s approval comes just days after the NHS announced plans to avoid the winter crisis.
The NHS will send some hospital patients home to be monitored remotely as part of a plan to free up capacity and avoid a winter crisis.
Health bosses want to create ‘the equivalent of 7,000 more beds’ within the next 4 months with 2,500 of them created as ‘virtual wards’.
This involves the use of mobile apps and utilities that can remotely check oxygen and blood pressure.
It follows figures released for the week that show emergency departments are at a breaking point – with nearly 30,000 people waiting more than 12 hours in A&E a day.
Source: | This article originally belonged to Dailymail.co.uk
