UK Clinches Deal For 50Million Covid Variant Jabs

UK clinches deal to buy 50million jabs to tackle Covid variants

Amidst rising alarm about the prevalence of coronavirus variants originating mainly in Kent, South Africa and Brazil, the UK government has put in a pre-order for a new German jab, CureVac, which claims to be effective against the new strains. Governments across the globe are not only worried that these new mutations are more contagious but now fear that many may prove immune to the current vaccinations, so the UK has decided to get in ahead of the game.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock claimed the ordering of these vaccines will ensure the government can ‘provide everyone with a high level of protection against the virus and save lives,’ while Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, England’s deputy chief medical officer, said new jabs will be needed to ‘offer the best protection possible’ if the virus continues to mutate.

‘Being able to create these new vaccines at speed will allow our scientists to keep ahead of the virus as they do every year with the influenza vaccine,’ Professor Van-Tam said.

The Health Secretary said: ‘The vaccines we are deploying now are safe and effective, with the latest evidence suggesting they provide protection against new strains of Covid.

‘But we must be prepared for all eventualities and bolster onshore UK manufacturing capacity to develop vaccines to combat new variants of the disease, taking advantage of our world-leading genomics expertise.

‘This will help ensure we can continue to provide everyone with a high level of protection against the virus and save lives.’

CureVac’s jab is currently in stage 3 trials.

Meanwhile, scientists behind the Oxford University – Astra-Zeneca jab insist they will have a similar vaccine, designed primarily to target Covid variants, ready to go by the autumn.

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