The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved a new mRNA Covid vaccine for the immunisation of those aged 18 and older, it announced last week (January 2).
The regulator said the vaccine, Kostaive (zapomeran), is given as one 0.5 mL booster dose injection into the muscle of the upper arm.
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It added that Kostaive contains “a self-amplifying messenger RNA” which instructs cells in the body “to temporarily make the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein”.
“This teaches the immune system to fight off the virus in the future,” it said.
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The MHRA also said that very common side effects of the jab include “pain or tenderness at the injection site, tiredness, chills, fever, muscle and joint pain, headache and dizziness” - but that most side effects “are mild and disappear within a few days of vaccination”.
And it recommended that anyone who “suspects they are having a side effect from this medicine” talks to their doctor, pharmacist or nurse and “reports it directly to the MHRA Yellow Card scheme”.
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MHRA interim executive director of healthcare quality and access Julian Beach said patient safety is the regulator’s “top priority” and that the approval “provides an alternative vaccine for use in adults to prevent” Covid.
“As with all licensed medicines, we will continue to monitor its safety closely as it becomes more widely used,” he added.
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It comes after NHS England (NHSE) last month announced fee uplifts for both Covid and adult flu vaccinations in community pharmacies over the 2026/27 season.
NHSE said in a new joint service specification that the fee for Covid jabs will increase to £8.70 for each vaccine administered between this September and January 31, 2027, while the flu vaccination campaign is underway, and to £10.06 when the campaign is not running.
