Ministers purchased 114 million more coronavirus vaccines, which can be modified to prevent new strains.
Moderna jabs and Pfizer will also be shipped in 2022, 2023 and 2024. This gives the UK an ongoing supply for the next two-years.
The Department of Health said they ‘accelerated’ the signing of the new contracts in light of the newly discovered Omicron strain.
The deal suggests ministers are preparing to boost the nation’s immunity for at least the next two winters.
An additional 114,000,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine were purchased by the UK government
Moderna will provide 60 million additional doses, and Pfizer/BioNTech will furnish 54million
Moderna will be able to supply an additional 60 million doses. Pfizer/BioNTech has 54million.
These are in addition to the additional 35 million doses of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs that were ordered in August and will be delivered in the second quarter of next year.
The new deal – negotiated by the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce – ensures access to modified vaccines if they are needed to combat Omicron or future variants of concern.
Ministers have today unveiled a massive advertising campaign to urge people to get their third shot once they’re notified by NHS.
Today’s deal comes on the first anniversary of UK regulators becoming the first in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine – a move which sparked this year’s world-beating jabs rollout. The ministers have made it clear that they plan to offer a booster program for Covid every year at the very least for the next two.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: ‘Thanks to the Vaccine Taskforce, we have an excellent track record of securing the vaccines the country needs to keep this virus at bay.
‘These new deals will future-proof the Great British vaccination effort – which has so far delivered more than 115million first, second and booster jabs across the UK – and will ensure we can protect even more people in the years ahead.
Today’s deal comes on the first anniversary of UK regulators becoming the first in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine – a move which sparked this year’s world-beating jabs rollout. This is the most clear sign that ministers plan to implement an annual booster program against Covid over the next at least two years.
‘This is a national mission, and our best weapon to deal with this virus and its variants is to get jabs in arms – so when you are called forward, get the jab and get boosted.’
Six separate vaccine developers have now granted the government access to 453.5million doses of vaccine.
Omicron was discovered by Mr Javid, who asked for a quick recommendation from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to extend the booster programme to all 18-year-olds. With the NHS being tasked to offer a boost to all adults eligible in England, the advice was approved this week.
Experts agree that vaccines in place are unlikely to provide protection against all new strains of disease, especially severe ones.
However, leading manufacturers have already begun to improve their formulations in order to be more resistant to new threats.
Meanwhile, government advisers believe that boosting antibodies with existing jabs will help prevent an additional wave of Omicron infections.
The Government advisors believe that boosting antibodies with existing jabs will help prevent another Omicron outbreak. Around 400 military personnel will join the deployment support team. There are 1,500 local pharmacies and additional hospitals hubs. Pop-up sites also open in convenient areas across the country.
More than 3,000 sites are already open in England – more than double the number in February.
But global health leaders yesterday questioned the UK’s booster campaign. Dr Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organisation’s health emergencies programme, said he is not aware of any evidence that would suggest offering booster jabs to the entire population gives any greater protection to healthy people.
Asked about the acceleration of the UK’s booster programme, he told a press briefing: ‘It’s tough for some countries who have huge amounts of excess vaccine to decide who to give it to, but that’s not the problem being faced by a lot of countries around the world who can’t get even primary vaccination to their most vulnerable…
‘There are others here who can better answer than me… but right now there is no evidence that I’m aware of that would suggest that boosting the entire population is going to necessarily provide any greater protection for otherwise healthy individuals against hospitalisation or death.’