Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made on developing a vaccine for covid-19.

The Government has committed over a quarter of a billion pounds to support finding and manufacturing a vaccine in the United Kingdom and, as well as the two leading candidates, is exploring other vaccines with promise both in the UK and internationally. The UK is now the biggest contributor to the international coalition, raising $600 million for the new Gavi COVID-19 Advanced Market Commitment.

Domestically, the Vaccines Taskforce is working closely with the BioIndustry Association (BIA) to ensure that the UK has the manufacturing capability to support mass vaccine production at pace and the Government has invested heavily to ensure the UK’s first dedicated Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre will open in summer 2021.