Moderna is working on annual ‘combination’ fake vaccine to inoculate Britons against both ‘Covid’ and flu as early as next year … Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Nuremberg

Moderna is working on a single jab which could inoculate Britons against both Covid and flu as early as next year.

The American drug company’s UK chief Darius Hughes said an annual ‘combination’ vaccine would be more convenient for patients because it required fewer visits to a medical facility and cut the NHS’s cost of administering vaccinations.

Mr Hughes said an inoculation against coronavirus and flu could be available by the winter of 2023 ‘at a stretch’.

Last year the NHS sought to reassure patients that administering jabs against flu and Covid at the same time did not affect the immune response.

Moderna is currently developing a vaccine to specifically tackle the Omicron variant. Early-stage data on its effectiveness is expected within the next two weeks.

Moderna also hopes to create a jab that tackles Covid, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which typically causes mild symptoms but can be serious, especially for infants and older adults, by the winter of 2024.

Mr Hughes said: ‘Our No 1 priority for 2022, after getting the right Covid vaccine for the Omicron variant, is to try and really drive forward our flu and RSV programmes to see if we can get a combination, single-dose respiratory vaccine.