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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the finding of interim analysis of data from Phase III trials that the Oxford covid-19 vaccine is 70 per cent effective, for what reason his Department has ordered 100 million doses of that vaccine.

The preliminary efficacy data is positive and indicates that the University of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine is 70.4% effective across two different dosage regimens. One of these dose regimens could be up to 90% effective.

To beat this pandemic, it has always been likely that we would need more than one vaccine. We have now seen excellent results with multiple vaccine candidates. There will be variations between the vaccines in how well they work for different population subgroups and how long the protection lasts, alongside other factors.

The University of Oxford / AstraZeneca vaccine has the distinct advantage that it can be stored at fridge temperature, making it easier to transport and distribute globally than other Covid-19 vaccines. The fact that the vaccine has been manufactured by AstraZeneca at cost also means it is affordable, potentially making this UK-developed vaccine a vaccine for the world.

The Vaccine TaskForce’s portfolio includes different types of vaccine and we continue to keep the portfolio under review.