The UK has become the first country to approve a dual vaccine which tackles both the original Covid virus and the newer Omicron variant, BBC reported yesterday.
The upgraded vaccine should be available as an autumn booster and give better protection against variants.
Moderna said “it could supply 29 million doses this year, but exactly who will get them has yet to be announced,” the report read.
All over-50s and people in high-risk groups will be offered some form of booster from next month.
The original vaccines used in the pandemic were designed to train the body to fight the first form of the virus that emerged in Wuhan, in China, at the end of 2019.
The Covid virus has since mutated substantially, with a stream of new variants emerging that can dodge some of our immune defences. They have caused large surges in cases around the world.
According to BBC, Moderna’s vaccine targets both the original strain and the first Omicron variant (BA.1), which emerged last winter. It is known as a bivalent vaccine as it takes aim at two forms of Covid.
