CVS Health Corp. said on Sept. 20 the company would fill as many as 25,000 clinical and retail jobs ahead of the flu season and as the United States prepares to administer booster Covid-19 vaccine shots.

The successful use of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for Covid-19 has led to a flurry of research studies designed to test these candidates in other illnesses. Translate Bio, for instance, launched a Phase I clinical trial with Sanofi’s vaccines global business unit Sanofi Pasteur to evaluate an mRNA-based investigational vaccine for the flu.

Next year, people are likely to need an annual Covid-19 vaccination just like they need an annual flu shot. That prediction is made by researchers at six of Australia’s leading medical research institutions, based upon their study of the levels of neutralizing antibodies needed to confer protection against Covid-19.

Moderna will charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, depending on the amount ordered, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel told German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS).

Shortages of flu shots this year are not related to drugmakers ramping up production of potential Covid-19 vaccines, the head of vaccines at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) said.

Walmart Inc., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. told Reuters demand for flu shots at their U.S. pharmacies is up sharply – in some cases double from 2019 – as people try to protect themselves from influenza in the midst of a worsening Covid-19 pandemic.