New Moderna jab to help fight Covid variants

The world-first approval of a next-generation Covid-19 vaccine has been welcomed by ­experts, who urged Britons to take up the offer of a booster dose.

Syringes containing the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine. Picture: AFP

The world-first approval of a next-generation Covid-19 vaccine has been welcomed by ­experts, who urged Britons to take up the offer of a booster dose.

Moderna’s bivalent vaccine, targeting the original and Omicron strains of the virus, is ­expected to be the default jab given as part of Britain’s autumn health program.

Vaccinating the most vulnerable – and thereby reducing their chances of severe disease – should keep thousands out of hospital over the winter months, health chiefs hope.

Jonathan Ball, professor of molecular virology at Nottingham University, said early data suggested the new Moderna vaccine worked better than existing vaccines against the newly emerged Omicron variants of BA. 5 and BA.1.

“These variants have been the most able to escape the antibodies raised through infection or vaccination by previous variants,” he said.

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration granted the new vaccine a “provisional determination” in April, the first step in the process of examining data for safety and efficacy ­before giving full approval.

Professor Ball warned that “the virus is unlikely to stand still and Omicron-targeted immunity might push the virus down other evolutionary paths, in which case we will be like the Red Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass, having to keep running to stay in the same place”.

“That said, unless there is a major shift in the virus, immunity will continue to protect the vast majority from serious disease caused by emerging variants, and that’s why it’s important to get vaccinated or boosted, especially if you are vulnerable,” he said.

Statistics on waiting times and ambulance response times show deteriorating performance already in the summer months.

The vaccine booster program, due to begin next month, is a key plank of the health service’s ­defence against a winter crisis. An expanded winter flu vaccination program is also likely to be important, with signs from Australia that the UK can expect a severe flu season.

The Times