Artificial Intelligence: Vaccine Technology

Baroness Nargund Excerpts

Thursday 9th July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

Public acceptance of vaccination is very high in this country, and that is built on trust, part of which comes from the regulator. The regulator in this country is extremely rigorous and will make sure that all the usual things that a vaccine needs to go through will be gone through, whether or not AI has been involved in the process somewhere. There will be no change in the regulations as a result of that, except where there may be opportunities to get better safety profiles because of the use of AI. That is important. As noted, it is crucial that public engagement with this happens. The MHRA is good at doing that, and it will be an important part of continuing to build vaccine confidence in the UK.

[Baroness Nargund (Lab)]

My Lords, I welcome the potential for AI in developing vaccine technology. However, AI models are as good as the data we put in to train them. I therefore have two questions for my noble friend the Minister. What steps are the Government taking to close the data gap for those from ethnic minorities and for women and pregnant women to be included in trials? How are they working with international partners, including the WHO, to expand the database so that we achieve health equity for all?

[Lord Vallance of Balham (Lab)]

In the UK there is a programme called Our Future Health, designed to enrol 5 million participants. It is very clearly designed to be an accurate representation of the UK population as a whole, with all our ethnic diversity and across age ranges. That is an important data resource for the future. The Health Data Research Service will also be part of making sure that data are appropriately curated, ready and available for use. The regulators already have processes in place to make sure that women, women of childbearing age and others are included in clinical trials. That work will continue.