Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 5
5
Rejected
After starting with a portfolio of seven candidates, the UK’s vaccine supply for 2022 and...
Recommendation
After starting with a portfolio of seven candidates, the UK’s vaccine supply for 2022 and 2023 now relies primarily on just two, yet many of the risks that the ‘portfolio’ approach was intended to mitigate remain. The UK’s portfolio strategy aimed to optimise the chances of success in securing access to vaccines at a time of huge uncertainty. Out of the original portfolio of seven candidates, six have been approved for use in the UK to date, with three—AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna— actually deployed. However, the only new contracts the UK signed in 2021 were The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine programme in England 7 with Pfizer and Moderna, both manufacturers of mRNA vaccines. The Vaccine Taskforce is confident that these remain the most effective choice for boosters and will provide the UK with access to reformulations against emerging variant viruses, if required. However uncertainty remains, which the original portfolio strategy was designed to mitigate. While the UK will be likely to continue to need 6- or 12-month COVID-19 booster campaigns for at-risk groups, there is much uncertainty about, for example, the emergence of new variants and what kind of vaccines might be needed in future. The COVID-19 vaccine market is also still very much a developing market and consequently volatile. Recommendation: The Department and the Vaccine Taskforce should urgently review the future procurement strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, seeking all necessary clinical and commercial expertise, to ensure that future contracts are not let to too narrow a set of providers. It should report the results of the work in detail to the Committee.
Government Response Summary
The government disagrees with the recommendation to review the future procurement strategy for COVID-19 vaccines, stating that the current strategy is kept under constant review with expert advice. They cite agreements with developers that give access to updated vaccines and bivalent vaccines having received regulatory approval.
Government Response
Rejected
HM Government
Rejected
5.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 5.2 The government took a portfolio approach to vaccine development and procurement. This was the right strategy in the early stages of the pandemic, recognising a high degree of uncertainty over which vaccines, if any, would prove safe and effective, and so receive regulatory approval. 5.3 Now, more information is available. The government has continued to learn more about the vaccines including through Vaccine Taskforce (VTF) sponsorship of clinical studies. The department continues to monitor such studies, as well as manufacturer data, to help inform procurement strategy. 5.4 Ability to adapt to new variants has also been important in considering which vaccines to procure. The government has ensured that agreements with the developers give access to updated vaccines. Bivalent vaccines, that target the original (wild type) and Omicron BA.1 strain, from both Moderna and Pfizer have received regulatory approval from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) on 15 August 2022 and 3 September 2022, respectively. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended both for use in the 2022 Covid-19 autumn booster programme. Six licenced vaccines (from three developers) are currently available for the NHS under JCVI recommendations. Two further vaccines are likely to achieve MHRA approval shortly and could be deployed if JCVI recommend we do so. 5.5 The vaccine procurement strategy is kept under constant review. It was last discussed with the VTF Steering Group, chaired independently by Sir Richard Sykes (former chair of GSK), in mid-September. That Steering Group included commercial and clinical experts, such as Sir Jonathan Van-Tam. This steering group stopped at the end of September when VTF transitioned into its new form. The COVID Vaccine Unit, in UKHSA, is in the process of setting up a suitable advisory group – which will continue to include clinical and commercial experts.