Is the COVID vaccine a live vaccine?

Professor Sarah Gilbert, lead researcher of the vaccine development programme at Oxford, said it could provide the most noticeable effects for younger people.

Older recipients may find their immunity wanes quicker, she said, warranting booster shots.

But health officials would only need to supply them occasionally.

Professor Gilbert said: “In the future we may need to do it more often with older people than younger people, but not more than once a year, as with the flu vaccine.”