Moderna, the US-based pharmaceutical company that developed one of the most successful Covid vaccines, is aiming to make its vaccine available for private sale in the UK. Currently, the jab is only available through the NHS autumn booster programme. However, the Covid vaccine license is expected to be updated next year, allowing pharmacists and private clinics to sell it alongside the flu jab. Moderna CEO, Stephane Bancel, has confirmed that his teams are currently “working with governments” to achieve this goal.
Bancel stated that “people who want to be protected should be able to be protected”. He also disclosed that Moderna hopes to release a combined flu and Covid vaccine, using messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) technology, by 2025. Initial data from early trials suggests that the combined vaccine is as effective as separate doses of existing jabs. Additionally, Moderna is looking to release a triple vaccine in 2026 that protects against flu, Covid, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).
Moderna’s Covid vaccine is already available for purchase privately in the US for around $120, but no price has been confirmed for the UK market. However, it is anticipated that it will be significantly higher than the £12-20 cost of the flu vaccine. Pfizer, which also supplies Covid vaccines to the UK, is exploring the possibility of providing them privately in the UK, but the priority of both companies currently is fulfilling their commitments to supply the UK government with Covid vaccines.
This week, the two scientists who developed the mRNA technology used in the first Covid vaccines (including Moderna’s) were awarded the Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine
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