Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the guidance contained on the gov.uk webpages entitled Working safely during coronavirus (Covid-19): guidance from step 4 is legally binding in respect of (a) businesses’ insurance policies and (b) health and safety duties.
Answered by Paul Scully
The Working Safely guidance does not supersede businesses’ existing legal obligations relating to health and safety, employment and equalities duties. It is important that businesses continue to comply with existing obligations. Businesses have a legal duty to manage risks to those affected by their business. The way to do this is to carry out a health and safety risk assessment, including the risk of Covid-19, and to take reasonable steps to mitigate the risks identified. In order to help businesses conduct their risk assessment, the ‘Working Safely’ guidance provides advice on sensible precautions employers can take to manage risk and support their staff and customers.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will proactively plan for and stock the Novavax and Johnson and Johnson vaccines, pending the completion of their clinical trials and UK approval process.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The UK Government has secured early access to 407 million vaccines doses through agreements with seven separate vaccine developers. This includes agreements with Novavax for 60 million doses and Janssen for 30 million doses.
Subject to regulatory approval by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which will review and analyse the relevant data to see if the vaccines meet their strict standards of safety and effectiveness, these vaccines are expected to be delivered in the second half of this year.
The Government is committed to ensuring access to vaccines as soon as is safely possible, which is why it is considering all options to help achieve this objective.