• Tuesday, April 23, 2024

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Britain looks at Covid booster shot options

(Photo: iStock)

By: RadhakrishnaNS

The UK authorities are now focusing at which Covid-19 vaccines would offer the best booster shot for vulnerable later this year and no decisions have been taken yet, vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said on Wednesday (5).

Britain is quickly rolling out vaccines and has been the second quickest country in the world to give a first Covid-19 shot to at least half its adult population.

The government is already assessing the possible need for a third Covid-19 vaccine dose for the elderly and vulnerable, to be given in the autumn, after all adults are given their initial two-shot regime.

“The clinicians haven’t yet made their decision when they will need to boost, whether to give more immunity to the most vulnerable, to increase the durability of the protection, or to deal with a variant,” Zahawi told Sky News.

Asked by the BBC about a Times newspaper report that over-50s would be targeted with the booster shots, Zahawi reiterated that no decisions had been taken.

Last week a Public Health England official said that any booster programme would be led by the need to protect against variants, as high levels of protection offered by the current shots looked unlikely to wane quickly.

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