UK plans booster dose for new coronavirus variants in September

The UK works with the plan of beginning to offer a third dose of the vaccine against the COVID-19 to strengthen immunity if by then new variants of the coronavirus have spread, advanced the Secretary of State for Vaccination, Nadhim Zahawi.

In an interview published this Saturday by the newspaper “The Telegraph“Zahawi explained that those over 70 years of age and first-line health personnel will have priority for this additional injection.

“Most likely date is September“Said Zahawi, in charge of overseeing a vaccination program that has already administered at least a first dose of the vaccine to more than 29 million people.

At UK so far, the preparations of AstraZeneca and Pfizer, but the Secretary of State assures that for the autumn he hopes to have up to eight approved products.

The British government has already been in contact with these two pharmaceutical companies, as well as Moderna, whose vaccine is expected to be available next month, regarding the distribution of a third booster dose.

“However the virus behaves, we will be preparedZahawi assured.

England will begin on Monday a slow de-escalation of the restrictions that the Government decreed at the beginning of January to stop a wave of infections that at its maximum peak caused more than 1,800 daily deaths.

In the last seven days, the average number of deaths per coronavirus It has been 70 and the number of patients admitted has fallen to less than 5,000, far from the almost 40,000 that were reached in January.

Starting this week, social gatherings will be allowed outside for up to six people, belonging to two homes, and the outdoor sports facilities will reopen.

However, non-essential shops will remain closed, which will reopen on April 12 – bars and restaurants will be able to serve on terraces from that date – and national or international trips for leisure reasons are not allowed either.

The Government has advanced that it will allow stores to open until ten at night when they can resume their activity, three hours more than the closing time before the pandemic.