The British drug regulator announced on Monday that it has approved a new version of Moderna’s covid-19 vaccine, targeting the omycron variant, which is a worldwide innovation, according to the lab.

The version consists of a “bivalent” booster dose; this means that half of them protect against the original strain of the virus and the other half against the omicron variant. The regulator said the formula “produces a strong immune response” against both, including the BA.4 and BA.5 omicron subvariants.

The new serum has been approved by the regulatory authority “for booster doses in adults”, the British pharmaceutical agency added, “concluding that the new vaccine meets standards of safety, quality and efficacy.”

The regulator said side effects were “typically mild” and similar to those seen in the original serum against the disease causing the pandemic.

Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, highlighted the “important role” these “next-generation vaccines” can play in protecting against covid-19. As he noted, the United Kingdom is the first country in Europe to approve a bivalent vaccine against omicron, the most common variant.

Last week, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced that it may approve a Pfizer/BioNTech anticovid vaccine this fall against two rapidly spreading subspecies of the omicron strain, BA.4 and BA.5.