UK health officials bring forward autumn flu and Covid vaccinations Move in England comes after detection of highly-mutated coronavirus variant that is spreading around the world The Guardian

...

UK posts initial COVID-19 BA.2.86 risk assessment Officials say the rapid appearance in multiple countries in people without travel histories suggests established international spread. CIDRAP

...

The newly identified variant has many genetic mutations and is distant from BA.2, its likely ancestor, and currently circulating XBB variants. The similarity of the sequences so far—six samples from four countries—suggests relatively recent emergence and rapid growth, but the HSA said it has low confidence in that assessment, pending the examination of further sequences.

...