Health and Social Care Update

Baroness Sheehan Excerpts

Monday 22nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I endorse completely the noble Baroness’s remarks that we depend on the generosity, public spirit and kindness of family carers who provide an enormous amount of support for their loved ones. Without them, the system could not possibly exist and the world would be a much graver place. I recognise that many carers have been pushed very hard by the pandemic. We have put a huge amount of resource into local authorities, which are responsible for providing support for those families, and that includes the kind of respite support that the noble Baroness has rightly pointed to. I am sure that more could be done and I would welcome any correspondence on this by way of follow-up that she would like to send my way.

[Baroness Sheehan (LD)]

My Lords, the Serum Institute of India is producing a billion doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine this year. However, we hear that the rate of production may be compromised because of delays in the supply chain of essential items from the US. What dialogue have our Government had with their US counterparts at all levels about how these delays might be overcome?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, the noble Baroness is right to say that the Serum Institute of India is the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer by far and we are enormously grateful for the strong relationship that this country has with the institute and the contribution that it is making to our vaccine rollout. The supply chains for the world’s vaccine production are unbelievably complicated, with ingredients and individual supply items coming from many different countries for each and every vaccine. It is not possible to provide a running commentary on the progress of each one; nor would it be wise to have a bilateral conversation with the country of origin of every vaccine ingredient. Our relations with India, America and the EU will, I am sure, return to the spirit of partnership and the respect of contract law that have characterised those relationships in the past.