- BBC NEWS - James Gallagher - AUG 15, 2022 -
Barbaridade!!! A Big Pharma é deveras criativa - literalmente não é o "fim da picada".
CÉSAR TONHEIRO -
Ministers say the vaccine will now form part of the autumn booster campaign.
Moderna thinks 13 million doses of its new vaccine will be available this year, but 26 million people are eligible for some form of booster.
Em Breve: "O EIXO DO MAL LATINO AMERICANO E A NOVA ORDEM MUNDIAL" em livro IMPRESSO.
Uma versão completa e atualizada!
Health officials say people should take whichever booster they are offered as all jabs provide protection.
The original vaccines used in the pandemic were designed to train the body to fight the first form of the virus which emerged in Wuhan, in China, at the end of 2019.
The Covid virus has since mutated substantially, with a stream of new variants emerging that can dodge some of our immune defences. They have caused large surges in cases around the world.
The original vaccines still provide strong protection against becoming severely ill or dying, but companies are tweaking them to match the virus as it evolves.
Cases of coronavirus are currently falling in the UK. In mid-to-late July, around 2.5 million people tested positive for coronavirus.
'Sharpened tool'
Moderna's latest vaccine - called Spikevax - targets both the original strain and the first Omicron variant (BA.1), which emerged last winter. It is known as a bivalent vaccine as it takes aim at two forms of Covid.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has considered the evidence and given the vaccine approval for use in adults.
Dr June Raine, the regulator's chief executive, said: "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."
Experiments on 437 people showed the updated vaccine was safe and gave better immune protection against newer variants.
Levels of antibodies that were able to stick to and disable Omicron (BA.1) were 1.7 times higher in people given the new vaccine. Tests against more recent Omicron variants (BA.4 and BA.5), which are causing the UK's current wave, also showed higher levels of protection with the updated vaccine.
However, it is far from clear what that means in terms of preventing someone from becoming seriously ill.
Additionally, it is uncertain what variants we will be facing in the coming months and exactly how well the updated vaccine will perform against them.
Health ministers have officially given the go-ahead for the bivalent vaccines.
In England, Health Secretary Steve Barclay said it was "very good news for the UK population" and those eligible "will have the comfort of knowing that their immunity has been topped up". People will be contacted from early September, he said.
Wales' health minister Eluned Morgan said vaccines "have saved countless lives" and urged everyone who was eligible to come forward.
LEIA MAIS >
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-62548336