The lethal coronavirus, a disease that jolted the world, claimed millions of precious lives over the last two years, and destroyed the world’s economy, is still a real threat to the world (“UK first to approve new Moderna vaccine targeting Omicron variant,” Aug.15, Gulf Today website).

Despite the deadly coronavirus being mostly under control because the large part of the world is now vaccinated, the fight against the coronavirus is not over yet, which is the reality. The world has to be vigilant in countering the coronavirus till the time the World Health Organisation announces the complete success against the virus.

Britain, the first country to approve a coronavirus vaccine in late 2020, has now also given the first green light to a variant-adapted shot that targets both the original and Omicron versions of the virus. The Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said in a statement it had approved the vaccine for adult booster doses “after it was found to meet the UK regulator’s standards of safety, quality and effectiveness.”

It was the first such “bivalent” COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the British regulator.

There is no doubt that the world has achieved a huge success countering the COVID-19 pandemic, producing coronavirus vaccines but coronavirus variants are still existing. Omicron is also a lethal coronavirus variant, millions of people are suffering from its effects around the globe. I am glad that the government of the United Kingdom has approved an Omicron shot that targets both the original and Omicron versions of the virus.

I hope countries will follow the steps taken by the United Kingdom government to approve Omicron shots to save their people’s precious lives.

Junaid Jamal,
By email