Mr Zahawi told a Q&A hosted by Tortoise it would take just 30 to 40 days to approve a booster jab. Ministers have placed an initial order of 50million doses of new vaccines, to be delivered later this year if needed. Experts have warned that it is very possible the new South African variant is already quite widespread in the UK. And the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine produces immune responses that protect against the South African variant, blood samples suggest. Deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van Tam said the South African variant would not “over-run or overtake” the dominant UK strain in the next few months.

Source: Daily Mirror February 08, 2021 19:59 UTC