Covid vaccine designed to target two variants approved for use in UK
A vaccine designed to target two different forms of Covid has been approved by the UK regulator for use as booster jabs in people over the age of 18.
Manufactured by the US firm Moderna, the vaccine targets not only the original coronavirus – as is the case for vaccines currently in use – but is designed specifically to target the Omicron variant BA.1, which fuelled a wave of Covid in the UK last winter.
The UK is the first country to approve the bivalent vaccine, known as “Spikevax bivalent Original/Omicron”.
It is now up to the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to decide whether it will, as expected, be used in the planned autumn booster programme, expected to begin in September.
Dr June Raine, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) chief executive, said: “I am pleased to announce the approval of the Moderna bivalent booster vaccine, which was found in the clinical trial to provide a strong immune response against the Omicron BA.1 variant as well as the original 2020 strain.
“The first generation of Covid-19 vaccines being used in the UK continue to provide important protection against the disease and save lives. What this bivalent vaccine gives us is a sharpened tool in our armoury to help protect us against this disease as the virus continues to evolve.
“We have in place a comprehensive safety surveillance strategy for monitoring the safety of all UK-approved Covid-19 vaccines and this will include the vaccine approved today.”
Prof Sir Munir Pirmohamed, the chair of the Commission on Human Medicines, which independently reviewed the vaccine data, said the commission agreed with the MHRA’s decision.
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