* UK wants to broaden booster campaign
* New measures are temporary
* Scotland also to introduce travel measures
(Adds Moderna's chief medical officer)
By Elizabeth Piper
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Britain's health minister Sajid
Javid said on Sunday he expected to receive advice imminently on
whether the government can broaden a booster shot programme to
try to weaken the impact of the newly identified Omicron
coronavirus variant.
The government announced new measures on Saturday to try to
slow the spread of the variant, toughening rules for people
arriving into Britain and ordering the use of face masks in
retail settings and on transport in England.
But ministers also want to ramp up the offer of booster
jabs, saying even if vaccines prove to be less effective against
Omicron, they should offer better protection against it and
reduce the number of hospitalisations and deaths.
"The other thing that still remains hugely important, but I
think it's fair to say now more important than it was before, is
our vaccination programme," Javid told Sky News.
"That is why I have also asked our expert advisers on
vaccines called JCVI (the Joint Committee on Vaccination and
Immunisation) to give me very quick advice on broadening,
boosting our booster programme, and I expect to get that advice
imminently."
Earlier this month, Britain expanded eligibility for booster
jabs to people in their 40s and also said children aged 16 and
17 would be able to receive a second dose following guidance
from the JCVI.
Scotland, where the government sets its own rules for
health, already requires people to wear face coverings and work
from home if possible, but its first minister, Nicola Sturgeon,
told the BBC's Andrew Marr show she would also bring in new
rules for arrivals.
"I think we need to be open minded to doing anything
required to keep the population safe right now," she told the
BBC's Andrew Marr show.
The discovery of Omicron, dubbed a "variant of concern" last
week by the World Health Organization, has sparked worries
around the world https://www.reuters.com/world/new-coronavirus-variant-omicron-keeps-spreading-australia-detects-cases-2021-11-28
that it could resist vaccinations and prolong the nearly
two-year COVID-19 pandemic.
Britain has confirmed two cases of the new variant, and
Javid said the new measures were needed to buy time for experts
to try to understand more about Omicron, which may, or may not,
make vaccines less effective.
Paul Burton, chief medical officer at Moderna, said
if a new vaccine was needed to tackle the variant, "I think
that's going to be early 2022 before that’s really going to be
available in large quantities".
Javid repeated that it was not as yet clear whether vaccines
were less effective against the variant.
"The point is the vaccines are still going to give you more
protection than otherwise," he said. "That is why the booster
programme is so important."
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Editing by Louise Heavens, Mark
Heinrich and Raissa Kasolowsky)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
