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Health authorities in England are bringing forward the latest Covid-19 booster vaccination programme to counter a new potentially problematic subvariant of the virus called BA. 2.86.
The UK Health Security Agency suggested speeding up the autumn programme, starting by giving the first shots to the most vulnerable on September 11, to give people greater protection from severe illness.
Subvariant BA. 2.86 has not been declared a variant of concern but it has a high number of mutations, leading some scientists to worry that it could evade protection from previous immunisation or infection. It was first detected in the UK on August 18.
This is a developing story
