Source · Select Committees · Health and Social Care Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Deferred
Paragraph: 18
Covid-19 vaccine rollout success demonstrates benefits of mission-based approach for immunisation.
Conclusion
The incredible success of the Covid-19 vaccine rollout showed what can be achieved with a mission-based attitude from Government, which involved making it as easy as possible for everybody to receive the vaccine. Fundamental to that success was the wide range of people that were mobilised to deliver the vaccination, and this is a lesson that cannot be forgotten when considering routine immunisation programmes.
Government Response Summary
The government deflected the recommendation, focusing instead on its efforts to improve commercial clinical trials, clinical research delivery, and partnerships for vaccine innovation, rather than routine immunisation delivery.
Paragraph Reference:
18
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government
Deferred
We note the concerns raised by the Committee which is based on data published by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) which show a decline in the number of commercial clinical trials initiated in the UK between 2017 and 2021. Overall, however, there has been an increase in the number of participants recruited to clinical studies in England since 2018. During the pandemic (in 2020 and 2021), many non- COVID studies were paused to focus on nationally prioritised COVID-19 studies. The Department, working in partnership with NHS England, has taken action to recover the UK’s capacity to deliver research through the Research Reset programme. We currently have over 5,700 studies on the National Institute for Health and Care Research Clinical Research Network (NIHR CRN) portfolio and 80% are open and recruiting to time and target. As of August 2023, an average of over 79,000 people were recruited to studies on the NIHR CRN portfolio each month, 10,000 more than the monthly average prior to the pandemic in 2019/20. The Government remains committed to regaining the UK’s position as a global leader in clinical trials. This is critical to delivering the ambitions set out in the Life Sciences Vision and to positioning the UK as a science superpower. In March 2021 the Government published Saving and Improving Lives: The Future of UK Clinical Research Delivery4 setting out our ambitions to reform clinical research delivery in the United Kingdom. This sets out how we will improve patient access to clinical trials in all areas, including Cancer. This will include enhancing the use of data to support recruitment and improving processes to make study set-up and delivery faster, more efficient, and more innovative, so that clinical research participation is more accessible than ever. Vaccine innovation and clinical trials remain a priority. In December 2022, the Government signed the Moderna-UK Strategic Partnership, which will see a new innovation and technology centre built in the UK5. The partnership will see Moderna invest substantial funding in UK-based research and development activities over a 10-year period. This will include running a significant number of clinical trials in the UK and the company has also pledged to fund grants for UK universities, including PhD places.