England will speed up the start of the autumn vaccination programs for Covid-19 and flu, for precautionary reasons, after the BA.2.86 sub-variant of SARS-CoV-2, which carries multiple mutations, was detected in Britain.

Scientists say BA.2.86, a variant of Omicron, is unlikely to cause a catastrophic wave of serious illness or even death, given the immune defenses built up worldwide by vaccinations and disease.

However, Britain’s Ministry of Health announced that annual vaccination programs for the elderly and vulnerable population groups will start a few weeks earlier than planned because of this variant.

“While our top scientists gather more information about the BA.2.86 variant, it makes sense to accelerate vaccination programs,” said Under Secretary of Health Maria Cofield.

This variant was first identified in Britain on 18 August. Vaccination will begin on September 11, and the first to receive the vaccine will be those housed in nursing homes and people belonging to high-risk groups. However, this variant is not yet classified as a “variant of concern” in Britain and the Department of Health has assured that its instructions to the general public will not change.

For the first time, the variant was detected in Denmark on July 24.

It has since been identified in other patients in a few countries.