Britain's drug regulator approves an updated COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna that protects against the original strain and the Omicron BA.1 variant.
British drug regulators have become the first in the world to authorise an updated COVID-19 vaccine to protect against the Omicron variantThe Moderna vaccine will target the Omicron BA.1 variant which was first detected in November 2021The World Health Organization says the latest global surge of COVID-19 has been driven by Omicron subvariant BA.
Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay said the new shot would be part of the country's booster program rollout from September, based on advice from the government's vaccine experts. Such an approach, combining protection against several strains of the same disease, is used with flu shots, which are adjusted each year depending on the variants and can protect against four influenza strains.