Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average length of time between (1) the delivery of COVID-19 vaccine doses manufactured outside the UK and their arrival at the facility in the UK at which they will be administered, and (2) between such vaccine doses arriving at the facility in which they will be used and their actual administration; and how many doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have gone to waste to date in the UK.

Vaccine suppliers are required to deliver to the UK against a contract delivery schedule and this will vary depending on the vaccine. Once the vaccine has reached the UK’s central holding facility, the vaccine is stored at the required temperature until the vaccine is packed against an order from the National Health Service (NHS). The following factors determine how quickly the vaccine is delivered into NHS administration sites: how much vaccine is held centrally; how many orders are received from the NHS; and, how frequently orders are received. . The average time cannot be calculated because of these variables. There have been no incidents of wastage reported through Public Health England’s vaccine ordering system thus far.

NHS England recommend that administration of the vaccine is planned from the day after receipt of the vaccine. The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses that have gone to waste to date within the NHS in England is not available in the requested format.