Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what urgent steps they are taking to (1) create capacity to manufacture vaccines in the UK, and (2) ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are made available immediately once they are developed.

The development of a COVID-19 vaccine is at the early stages but progressing rapidly. The Government is working to ensure the United Kingdom has the manufacturing capability to produce these vaccines at the levels the UK needs. To do this, a new cross-Government vaccines taskforce has been set up, reporting to the Secretaries of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and Health and Social Care as well as Sir Patrick Vallance. It brings together Government, industry, academics, funding agencies and other partners to make rapid decisions in order to accelerate vaccine development in the UK.