John Baron MP welcomes progress on vaccine

MP says experts will ensure vaccine safety

The Government has recently confirmed that its Vaccine Taskforce has struck agreements to buy 350 million doses of candidate vaccines, across a range of types and including six of the leading candidates under development. These include the Oxford/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines, both of which are currently in phase 3 trials. The Vaccine Taskforce has taken steps to accelerate the development of a vaccine, conducting safe and effective clinical trials with 300,000 people having signed up to register their interest in participating. The Taskforce is also pioneering controlled human challenge studies, which can help assess and accelerate the development of effective more quickly and with fewer participants than standard phase 3 trials. Prior to any approval, every vaccine candidate will go through a stringent regulatory process via the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which will apply its rigorous standards on quality, safety and efficacy data.

In addition, the Government has also funded several UK manufacturing sites to ensure a steady supply of vaccines, including a £93 million investment to open the UK’s first dedicated Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre, 12 months ahead of schedule, and an additional £38 million for a virtual manufacturing centre.

The Government has also pledged up to £548 million to the COVAX international vaccine-purchasing initiative for lower and middle-income countries, as well as £71 million to secure access for the British population.

John said,

“It is good news that the Government is pulling out all the stops to identify, secure and manufacture effective vaccines against the coronavirus. However, no corners will be cut and if the experts at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency do not believe a vaccine adheres to its high safety standards, it will not be approved.”