UK orders 60M more Pfizer vaccine doses ahead of autumn booster program

The United Kingdom has ordered another 60 million Pfizer vaccines as the country prepares for its fall booster program.

Britain Health Minister Matt Hancock said Wednesday that the deal will double the country’s supply of shots for their booster program, Reuters reported.

“These further 60 million doses will be used, alongside others, as part of our booster programme from later this year, so we can protect the progress that we’ve all made,” Hancock said, according to Reuters. 

Public Health England said that details of the program are still being put together and it will be designed to battle new variants of the virus. Hancock added that they are working on plans for the booster shots. 

This comes as the U.K. has ordered more than 100 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, one of three vaccines being rolled out in the country.

The country has administered 47.5 million vaccine doses, which comes as they have the fifth-highest death total globally in COVID-19 with 127,000 deaths.