Covid booster jabs to be approved for sale to UK public | Coronavirus
Covid booster vaccines are expected to become available for the UK public to buy for the first time after health officials supported the proposal.
Pharmacists and private clinics will be allowed to offer jabs for sale on the high street, as they do with the flu vaccine. They are unlikely to be available in time for an autumn booster campaign but could become available next year.
The declaration by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) that it supports the concept comes after scientists backed the move amid concerns over a new wave of the virus, which could worsen in autumn and winter.
Covid jabs have only been available on the NHS in the UK since the first jab was administered in December 2020, where they are free at the point of delivery.
Earlier this month the UK government announced that the Covid autumn booster programme would cover a smaller pool of the population than earlier vaccination drives. The lower age limit has been raised from 50 to 65, with some younger vulnerable groups also eligible.
The government’s two suppliers, Moderna and Pfizer, have both said that supplying the NHS remains their priority. However, Moderna said it remains open to “exploring the possibility and viability of providing Covid-19 vaccines to healthcare providers for private sales”.
A UKHSA spokesperson told the Times: “We have spoken to manufacturers we’re in contract with and made it clear we won’t prevent them initiating a private market for Covid-19 vaccines, rather we’d welcome such an innovation in the UK.
“As far as we’re concerned, the ball is in the court of the manufacturers to develop the market with private healthcare providers.”
The Covid vaccines already being used would not need a new regulatory approval in order to be sold to the public, a spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said.
Reports suggest that private jabs could be offered as soon as this autumn in the US. In March Moderna told Reuters that it expected to price its Covid vaccine at about $130 (£102), while Pfizer last year suggested $110 to $130 a dose.
Prof Adam Finn, of the University of Bristol and a member of the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said Covid jabs should be available commercially.
Some employers might want to offer the vaccines to their staff, he added.
Speaking in a personal capacity, Finn said: “I think it will be a good idea for vaccines to be made available to those that want them on the private market. I don’t really see any reason why that shouldn’t be happening.”
Prof Danny Altmann, an immunologist at Imperial College London, said: “Covid and long Covid vulnerability has been massively skewed to the most socioeconomically deprived – for example, those in jobs least compatible with working from home or taking time off when infected. By outsourcing vaccines to private medicine, we exacerbate this divide.”
