The UK now has access to 357 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from seven different developers after the government announced they have secured an additional 2million doses of the Moderna vaccine.
On 16th November, Moderna published initial data showing that its candidate is nearly 95% effective in protecting against COVID-19, with no safety issues identified to date with the company currenlty conducting phase 3 clinical trials.
Last week it was announced that the UK had secured 5 million doses however this was updated on Sunday as deal was struck to increase the number to 7 million, enough for around 3.5 million people to receive the vaccine.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “Every week, we are getting more positive news about the range of vaccines in development, and thanks to the work of our taskforce the UK has pre-ordered hundreds of millions of doses from those companies most advanced in their work.
Before the Moderna vaccine is approved for use in the UK it must meet the strict standards of safety and effectiveness of the independent medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
Should it is approved, the vaccine could start to be delivered as early as spring 2021.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: “It is essential that we continue to bolster our portfolio of vaccine candidates to ensure we’re in the best possible position to protect the public once we see that breakthrough.
“The UK was one of the first countries in Europe to sign a deal with Moderna, and I’m delighted we have been able to secure a further 2 million doses of their promising candidate for the British public.”
Where are the 357 million vaccines coming from?
- 100 million doses of University of Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
- 40 million doses of BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
- 7 million doses of Moderna vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
- 60 million doses of Novavax vaccine – phase 3 clinical trials
- 60 million doses of Valneva vaccine – pre-clinical trials
- 60 million doses of GSK/Sanofi Pasteur vaccine – phase 1 clinical trials
- 30 million doses of Janssen vaccine – phase 2 clinical trials
