It was announced on Saturday, September 3, that the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved a second Covid-19 booster vaccine to target the Omicron variant.
The MHRA approved the first bivalent Covid booster vaccine in August 2022, making the UK the first country in the world to do so.
The approval for the second vaccine was made following a clinical trial, which showed that a booster dose with the bivalent vaccine triggers a strong immune response against Omicron and the original Covid-19 strain.
Here's everything that you need to know about the Omicron booster shot.
Who has created the new vaccine to target the Omicron variant?
The new vaccine that has been approved was created by Pfizer/BioNTech, just a few weeks after the approval of Moderna's similar booster.
The vaccine targets the original variant of coronavirus and the Omicron variant that emerged at the end of 2021.
Why has the booster dose been approved?
The MHRA confirmed the approval of vaccine as it had met its standards of safety, quality and effectiveness and ahead of the the UK autumn booster programme.
Dr June Raine, the MHRA chief executive, said: “I am pleased to announce that we now have a second approved vaccine for the UK autumn booster programme. The clinical trial of the Pfizer/BioNTech bivalent vaccine showed a strong immune response against the Omicron BA.1 variant as well as the original strain.
“Bivalent vaccines are helping us to meet the challenge of an ever-evolving virus, to help protect people against Covid-19 variants.”
The new booster will be available to those over the age of 12.
When will the autumn booster jab be available?
Care home residents, staff and housebound people in England will be invited for their autumn coronavirus vaccine booster from September 5.
According to NHS England, health teams will visit private homes and care homes in order to vaccinate around 1.6 million residents, staff and housebound people as part of the autumn booster programme.
In addition, around four million people, including those who are high risk, will be able to book their booster jabs from Wednesday, September 7 as well as health and social care staff who do not work in care homes.
Letters will soon be sent out to those who are available for the booster and the public have been asked to wait until they have received their letter before they book an appointment via their GP or online.
Appointments will be available from September 12.
The booster programme will then expand in the next few weeks for those over the age of 50 with a total of 3,100 sites expected to be part of the vaccine, including GP practices and community pharmacies.
Which vaccine will you be offered as part of the autumn booster programme?
According to Gov.uk, the public will be offered a booster dose of a vaccine made by either Pfizer or Moderna.
You may be offered an updated combination version of these booster vaccines – the combination vaccines include a half-dose of the previous vaccine combined with a half-dose of a vaccine against the Omicron variant.
For a very small number of people, another vaccine product may be advised by your doctor.
The government has urged the public to accept the vaccination that is offered as soon as you are able to ahead of the cold winter months.
To find out more about the autumn booster programme, visit gov.uk.
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