A new "super booster" jab to protect people against recent Covid strains could be approved for use in the UK within days.
Moderna has created a new type of vaccine, codenamed 214, which is reportedly five times more effective than previous jabs, the Mail on Sunday reports. This vaccine could be approved within weeks and then be rolled out to 30 million people this autumn, it is being reported.
Latest figures show millions of people across the country have Covid thanks to the new Omicron strains BA.4 and BA.5. More than 1,000 people a day are going into hospital and health chiefs have warned the current wave has not yet peaked.
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There are fears that big events such as the Jubilee celebration and Glastonbury may have helped spread the current strains - and there are concerns that holiday travel restrictions could return this summer, with people advised to wear masks and wash their hands again, reports Wales Online.
The new vaccine is said to work against the original strains and the new Omicron variants. According to The Sun, Moderna is already in talks with UK health chiefs about delivering the 214 jab. Dr Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna, said there is a "definite interest" from the UK in buying its new vaccine, the Telegraph reports.
Dr Burton said: "I think the conclusions are that boosting … with 214, really could be a turning point in our fight against the SARS-Cov-2 virus." A total of 2.3 million people in private households are estimated to have had the virus last week, up 32% from a week earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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