Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the required domestic capacity for vaccine production in the event of a pandemic.

As we saw in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the United Kingdom’s population has ready access to pandemic vaccines as soon as they are available is critical to our ability to respond to and recover from any future pandemic. Whilst it is not possible to predict the cause of a pandemic in advance, the Government is investing in a range of capabilities to support the development and manufacture of pandemic vaccines when needed. These capabilities include:

¾ an advance purchase agreement with CSL Seqirus, which guarantees the UK’s population access to over 100 million doses of a pandemic influenza vaccine, entirely manufactured in the UK; and

¾ a partnership with Moderna, which aims to bring mRNA vaccine production capability to the UK and build resilience in the event of a new health emergency by investing in mRNA research and development.

In addition to these specific contractual arrangements, the Government is committed to making the UK one of the best places in the world to develop and manufacture new and innovative medicines, including vaccines. This is underpinned by broader support for the life sciences sector, including through the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund, which is a capital grant fund of up to £520 million over five years, from 2025 to 2030, to support UK health resilience and help ensure a robust response to potential future health emergencies.