With all the heatwaves, droughts and rail strikes going on in the UK, you might have forgotten all about our old friend Covid-19. You know, the global pandemic that kept us inside for two years? Ahh, good times.
Well, Covid is still a thing, we’re afraid, and people still need to get vaccinated (and boostered). And yesterday, NHS England announced it will be rolling out the new vaccine from September 5, as part of the UK’s autumn booster campaign.
Twenty-six million people across England will then be able to book their jabs for the week beginning September 12. This will include residents and staff in care homes, frontline health and social care workers, adults over 50, carers, and those in clinical risk groups or who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression.
The new vaccine is called the bivalent Covid vaccine. This updated version targets two Covid strains at once – one being the ancestral strain of SARS-Cov-2 and the other being the omicron variant. Previous jabs were ‘monovalent’ vaccines, meaning they targeted only the original strain. Get the new one when you can, folks!
ICYMI: could *another* heatwave be on the way next month?
Plus: these are the ten most common Covid symptoms vaccinated people are suffering from.