Britain to offer vaccine booster shots for 32 million next month: report

Britain will offer COVID-19 booster vaccines to 32 million Britons starting early next month with up to 2,000 pharmacies set to deliver the programme, The Telegraph reported on Sunday.

The campaign could start as soon as Sept. 6, which would see the rollout completed by early December if it goes to plan, the report added.

Britain reported 24,470 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, a drop from 26,144 on Saturday, and 65 deaths within 28 days of a positive test, down from 71 on Saturday.

The government also said 46,851,145 people had received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 38,345,841 had received two doses.

On the other hand, Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have raised the prices of their COVID-19 vaccines in their latest European Union supply contracts, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.

The new price for the Pfizer shot was 19.50 euros ($23.15)against 15.50 euros previously, the newspaper said, citing portions of the contracts seen.

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The price of a Moderna vaccine was $25.50 a dose, the contracts show, up from about 19 euros in the first procurement deal but lower than the previously agreed $28.50 because the order had grown, the report said, citing one official close to the matter.

Pfizer declined to comment on the contract with the European Commission, citing confidentiality. “Beyond the redacted contract(s) published by the EC, the content remains confidential and so we won’t be commenting,” the company said.