The UK government has signed a deal for at least 50m doses of vaccines that could combat new variants of coronavirus, and is to work with the German manufacturer to help develop them.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said it had struck the agreement with CureVac, which has already developed a first-generation vaccine that is undergoing large-scale clinical trials.
Under the plan, the BEIS’s statement said “UK expertise on genomics and virus sequencing” would help the company develop new varieties of mRNA vaccines, which inject “messenger” RNA (ribonucleic acid) into the body so it can produce antigens, if they are needed to combat variants resistant to existing vaccines.
The UK also said as part of the deal it had placed an initial order for 50m doses of new vaccines, which would be delivered later this year if needed.
The government’s joint committee on vaccination and immunisation has published a list of groups of people who will be prioritised to receive a vaccine for Covid-19 in the UK. The list is:
1 All those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers.
2 All those 75 and over.
3 All those 70 and over.
4 All those 65 and over.
5 Adults under 65 at high at risk of serious disease and mortality from Covid-19.
6 Adults under 65 at moderate risk of at risk of serious disease and mortality from Covid-19.
7 All those 60 and over.
8 All those 55 and over.
9 All those 50 and over.
10 Rest of the population.
Earlier this week, CureVac reached a separate deal with the pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline to develop a vaccine for potential new variants of coronavirus.
BEIS said the government was also setting up an expert advisory group to work on the issue of potential variants.
Its statement said almost all vaccines produced via this partnership would be based on the existing mRNA-based vaccine developed by CureVac, called CVnCoV, which is undergoing phase 3 clinical trials.
It added: “The UK will use its partnership with CureVac to boost the UK’s capacity to develop and manufacture variant vaccines in the UK, strengthening our domestic capabilities.”
The announcement reinforces the expectation that vaccinating populations against coronavirus will not necessarily be a one-off process but could end up needing to happen intermittently as new variants develop, similar to annual flu vaccinations.
Variants can make Covid-19 more transmissible, such as the variant that emerged in Kent, but some can potentially make existing vaccines less effective.
A South African variant contains mutations known as E484K and K417N, which appear to make the virus better able to evade neutralising antibodies produced by the body. A Brazilian variant also contains E484K and N501Y as well as another mutation of concern called K417T.
This week, it was revealed that the E484K mutation has also emerged in the Kent variant – although it has only been detected in a small number of cases so far.
Lab tests have suggested the Pfizer /BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, which have been licensed in the UK, may have a slightly lower efficacy towards the South African variant than older variants.
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, said the evidence still showed current vaccines protected people against new variants. “But we must be prepared for all eventualities and bolster onshore UK manufacturing capacity to develop vaccines to combat new variants of the disease, taking advantage of our world-leading genomics expertise,” he said.
Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, said it was “likely that our vaccines will have to adapt to continue to offer the best possible protection”.
He added: “Being able to create these new vaccines at speed will allow our scientists to keep ahead of the virus as they do every year with the influenza vaccine.”