Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to reports of the effectiveness of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on new variants of COVID-19, what assessment they have made of the efficacy of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine in tackling the new strains of the virus; and when results of any such assessment will be published.

The UK Government is currently undertaking its own laboratory work as a priority to better understand the impact of the new variants on the vaccines currently in deployment, in particular the risk of vaccine resistance.

We continue to take a portfolio-based approach that monitors the landscape of coronavirus vaccine development and remain confident that the three vaccines (Pfizer/BioNTech, Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Moderna) we have purchased which have been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency will continue to be effective against the virus.

Even though the first three vaccines have been proven to be effective, we must continue to explore every avenue available to us.