LONDON: The UK drug regulator said on Tuesday it has approved an updated COVID-19 vaccine by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech that targets only the omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant.
The vaccine, which like their other COVID shots will also be sold under brand Comirnaty, has been approved for use in individuals aged 6 months and above, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.
MHRA’s approval for the shot follows the European regulator’s clearance last week.
Besides Pfizer-BioNTech, other vaccine makers Moderna and Novavax have also created so-called monovalent versions of their shots that target only the XBB.1.5 subvariant of the virus.
While the US expects to deploy all three vaccines in the fall season, the UK plans to deploy the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna for the autumn immunization campaign.
XBB.1.5 was the most dominant variant globally earlier this year, which led the regulators, including the US Food and Drug Administration, to select it as the target for coronavirus vaccines.
UK regulator approves updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine
https://arab.news/rd356
UK regulator approves updated Pfizer-BioNTech COVID vaccine
- The vaccine has been approved for use in individuals aged 6 months and above
- MHRA's approval for the shot follows the European regulator's clearance last week
Trump says he’s dropping push for National Guard in Chicago, LA and Portland, Oregon, for now
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, a move that comes after legal roadblocks hung up the effort.
Trump said in a social media post Wednesday that he’s removing the Guard troops for now. “We will come back, perhaps in a much different and stronger form, when crime begins to soar again — Only a question of time!” he wrote.
Troops had already left Los Angeles after the president deployed them earlier this year as part of a broader crackdown on crime and immigration. They had been sent to Chicago and Portland but were never on the streets as legal challenges played out.
Trump’s push to deploy the troops in Democrat-led cities has been met with legal challenges at nearly every turn.
The Supreme Court in December refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area as part of its crackdown on immigration. The order was not a final ruling but was a significant and rare setback by the high court for the president’s efforts.
In the nation’s capital, District of Columbia Attorney General Brian Schwalb sued to halt the deployments of more than 2,000 guardsmen.
In Oregon, a federal judge permanently blocked the deployment of National Guard troops there.
California National Guard troops had already been removed from the streets of Los Angeles by Dec. 15 after a court ruling. But an appeals court had paused a separate part of the order that required control of the Guard to return to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
In a Tuesday court filing, the Trump administration said it was no longer seeking a pause in that part of the order. That paves the way for the California National Guard troops to fully return to state control after Trump federalized the Guard in June.
