The UK is not prepared for another pandemic and may not be able to make enough vaccines if one arrives, an influential group of politicians is warning.
Baroness Brown, chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, said experts have “troubling concerns about [the UK’s] capacity to manufacture vaccines for future biological threats” in a letter to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
The UK is “potentially well-placed to develop world-leading vaccine research” – but that advantage hasn’t been capitalised on, the group said.
Some vaccine work has been “mothballed” and experts were concerned an agreement with Moderna may only cover mRNA solutions.
By comparison, the EU has introduced schemes to provide a variety of vaccine options, and the US and Japan are researching oral and intranasal vaccines, which could be easier to distribute.
Those vaccines may induce stronger immunity in mildly infected people, which might stop a virus transmission.
The government should keep the UK’s vaccine development sector active and establish a “peacetime vaccines taskforce”, according to the committee, as well as conducting regular pandemic preparedness exercises.
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It should also support a range of vaccine technologies so it doesn’t become over-reliant on one technology, and research facilities should be funded on a longer-term basis, the letter said.
Baroness Brown said a resilient domestic vaccine sector was a “critically important sovereign capability for security” against the next pandemic.
“Recent developments raise concerns, and the sector needs renewed focus and Government support to ensure that lessons are learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and capacity retained,” she said.