NHS Tayside is now offering the Moderna vaccine to people across Highland Perthshire and the rest of Tayside.
The Moderna vaccine was first approved for use in the UK in January of 2021, making it the third vaccine against COVID available in the UK, and has an efficacy of 94% with two does.
A spokesperson for the World Health Organisation said: “The Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety, a group of experts that provides independent and authoritative guidance to the WHO on the topic of safe vaccine use, receives and assesses reports of suspected safety events of potentially international impact.
“In October 2021, the GACVS COVID-19 subcommittee concluded that the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines have clear benefits in all age groups in reducing hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19.”
Anyone who is over the age of five in Tayside can get their first, second and booster doses of the vaccine.
Before anyone in the UK could be offered the vaccine, it was first approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
MHRA chief executive, Dr June Raine said: “Having a third COVID-19 vaccine approved for supply following a robust and thorough assessment of all the available data is an important goal to have achieved and I am proud that the agency has helped to make this a reality.
“The progress we are now making for vaccines on the regulatory front, whilst not cutting any corners, is helping in our global fight against this disease and ultimately helping to save lives. I want to echo that our goal is always to put the protection of the public first.”
Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna, said: “We appreciate the confidence shown by the UK MHRA in COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna with this decision, which marks an important step forward in the global fight against COVID-19.
“I want to thank the MHRA and the Commission on Human Medicines’ reviewers for their tireless efforts.
“The authorization of a product developed by Moderna is a significant milestone on the Company’s 10-year journey, and I would like to thank all our colleagues that have helped us get to this point.”
You can find out more information about the vaccine in Tayside on: https://www.nhstayside.scot.nhs.uk/YourHealthWellbeing/PROD_345323/index.htm