UK becomes first country to approve Omicron vaccine

Britain has become the first country to authorise a Covid-19 vaccine that targets the Omicron variant. The UK medicine regulator (MHRA) approved the 'bivalent' vaccine made by Moderna as a booster for adults, Reuters reported.

The agency's decision was based on clinical trial data that showed the



booster triggered "a strong immune response" against both Omicron (BA.1) and the original 2020 virus, it said.

The UK medicine regulator also cited an exploratory analysis in which the shot was also found to generate a good immune response against the currently dominant Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5.