The high street retailers are in discussions with suppliers to offer a private Covid vaccination service in 2024, in collaboration with the government.
Like the flu jab, Covid-19 vaccines may be available for purchase from pharmacies in Britain in the coming months.
Two high street retailers, Boots and Superdrug, have revealed to The Times that they are collaborating with the government to start selling Covid jabs, which are currently only available from the NHS.
A Superdrug spokesman told the publication that they are in discussions with suppliers about “potentially offering a private Covid vaccination service in 2024.”
Boots, which already offers a range of vaccinations, including flu for both private and NHS customers, is also assessing various ways on how to offer private Covid vaccinations, a company’s spokesman informed The Times.
Moderna and Pfizer, two of the largest producers of the jab, have expressed their interest in providing their product to private operators, the report stated.
Currently, the flu jab is available in pharmacies and private clinics for between £10 and £20. At what price a Covid vaccine could be sold by high street retailers is still unknown.
Earlier in 2023, Moderna’s chief executive, Stéphane Bancel said that they were planning to sell its vaccines for $130, which is around £100.
Meanwhile, several countries, including the US, UK, China, and India, have reported a spike in Covid cases in recent weeks, due to the influx of a new strain of Covid known as JN.1.
Scientists at Japan’s top research institute Riken have warned that this new variant could cause global ‘heart failure pandemic’.
They explained that the ACE2 receptors, which the coronavirus uses for entry into human cells, are ‘very common’ in the heart, suggesting that many people infected with the virus may suffer from ‘reduced cardiac function’.
With cases of Covid infection increasing in England and Scotland, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has urged all those eligible to get their seasonal Covid-19 vaccine before the window closes on 31 January 2024.
Latest data from the Winter Covid-19 Infection Study estimated that approximately one in every 24 people could test Covid positive at the current time in England and Scotland.
The highest prevalence regionally was found in London, with high rates of infection in people aged 18 to 44 years.
