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The United Kingdom is working to offer a third dose of the covid-19 vaccine, which enhances immunity to new variants of the coronavirus, said the Secretary of State for Vaccination, quoted by EFE.
According to the EFE agency, the United Kingdom is working on a plan so that it can start offering the booster dose in September, if the new variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been extended.
In an interview published this Saturday in the newspaper “The Telegraph”, the Secretary of State for Vaccination, Nadhim Zahawi, explained that those over 70 and health professionals who are on the front line will have priority for this additional inoculation.
“The most likely date is September,” said Zahawi, responsible for overseeing a vaccination program that has administered at least a first dose of the vaccine to more than 29 million people.
In the UK, AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines have been used so far, but the secretary of state says he hopes to have up to eight products approved by the fall.
The British government has contacted these two pharmaceutical companies, in addition to Moderna, whose vaccine should be available next month, about the distribution of a third booster dose.
“Regardless of the behavior of the virus, we will be prepared,” Zahawi said.
England will begin on Monday a slow relaxation of the restrictions that the government enacted in early January to contain a wave of infections, the peak of which caused more than 1,800 deaths a day.
In the past seven days, the average number of deaths from coronavirus was 70 and the number of hospitalized patients dropped to less than 5,000, far from the nearly 40,000 recorded in January.
Starting this week, outdoor gatherings will be allowed for up to six people, belonging to two houses, and the outdoor sports facilities will be reopened.
However, the non-essential trade will remain closed, opening on April 12, when bars and restaurants can serve on terraces.
National or international travel for leisure reasons is prohibited.
The government said it will allow stores to open until 10 p.m., when they can resume their activities, three hours more than the closing time before the pandemic.
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