Just after reports began drawing attention to fears of a new COVID variant, British scientists have pushed for vaccines to be bought privately.
Those aged 65 and above, as well as some younger vulnerable groups, will be eligible for free booster shots this month. But some think the vaccine should be available for all those who want it, even if the virus poses no threat to them.
Adam Finn, professor at the University of Bristol and a member of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said the vaccines should be available commercially and could even be offered by employers to their staff. Quoted in The Guardian, he said:
I think it will be a good idea for vaccines to be made available to those that want them on the private market. I don’t really see any reason why that shouldn’t be happening.
Government officials have agreed that nothing is stopping pharmaceutical companies from taking their vaccines to the private market should they so choose.
But if the need for younger people to take COVID vaccines was questionable two years ago, it is all the more so now. The Guardian quoted Professor Sir Andrew Pollard of the University of Oxford as saying that
The science is clear that from the NHS perspective, COVID is no longer a problem for the healthy and young in the population and it makes sense to focus vaccine policy on older adults, especially the frail, and those with underlying health conditions.
It appears likely, however, that private sales will begin. These already exist for flu vaccines, which can be purchased for around £15 (€18) at pharmacies.
Private sales are also set to come into place in the U.S., where Moderna earlier this year said a single dose could go for as much as $130 (£100, €120).
Some scientists in Britain have also started calling for the reintroduction of mask-wearing, a practise that many have kept up regardless of instruction from the medical experts.
