The boss of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is unsure whether annual COVID-19 boosters for otherwise healthy people are a good use of resources or money.

A new booster jab will be offered to everyone in the UK aged 50 and over from next month, as well as those with underlying health conditions, to increase protection ahead of future waves.

Chief executive officer Pascal Soriot says he believes most of the vaccinated population has a "foundation immunity against severe disease" at this point.

"People who are otherwise healthy - especially if they are young, have been vaccinated, have had a boost already - boosting them again, I'm just not sure it's really a good use of resources," he told the UK's Telegraph newspaper in an interview.

He says the "foundation immunity" lasts "a long time, we don't know if it's one year, two years, three years. I think more than one year for sure".

On boosting people every year, he said: "I'm not sure it's a really good use of money, because most of the people now who catch it will just have symptoms if they get Covid, and that's it."

COVID-19 infections in the UK are continuing to fall and are now at their lowest level for more than two months, the latest figures show.

AstraZeneca last month hiked its revenue forecast for the year after strong demand for its COVID-19 antibody treatment, Evusheld, which it expects to help drive sales of at least 20 per cent for the year.

The group hailed the success of the Evusheld treatment, which it said was continuing to "demonstrate activity against new variants".