Yahoo Finance Government to inject £1.7bn for UK COVID-19 vaccine roll-out
The Treasury has announced that the UK's coronavirus vaccine programme will receive a £1.65bn ($2.3bn) cash injection to aid the roll-out to people across the country.
It said that the cash will be used to continue to inoculate the population to make sure that every adult is offered a dose of a vaccine by 31 July this year.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is expected to announce the boost during his second Budget on 3 March.
Sunak will also pledge £33m in total to improve vaccine testing capabilities and the ability to respond to new variants.
Of that £28m will go towards bolstering "UK life science excellence" aimed at expanding testing capacity in order to rapidly acquire samples of new strains. It added that boosting Public Health England's testing ability will help speed up national and international efforts to "develop successful" COVID-19 vaccines quickly.
The remaining £5m will be used for the creation of a "library of COVID-19 vaccines" at the Centre for Process Innovation in Darlington aimed at combatting different mutants of the coronavirus. It stressed that the £1.65bn is new money, but that rest of the funding is from the Vaccine Taskforce’s existing budget.
So far, over 20 million people in the UK have received their first COVID-19 vaccine jab, figures released on Sunday showed, while 796,132 have had a second shot.
Prime minister Boris Johnson called milestone a "huge national achievement" on Twitter (TWTR), paying testament to healthcare workers, armed forces and volunteers who made it happen. Johnson urged people to get inoculated if they get called, on Twitter (TWTR)
20 million people across the UK have now got the jab – a huge national achievement and a testament to the tireless work of NHS staff, volunteers, the Armed Forces & many more.
I urge everyone to get the jab when called. Every jab makes a difference in our battle against COVID. pic.twitter.com/kdkB2EkGlS— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) February 28, 2021
READ MORE: AstraZeneca hopes for adapted vaccine rollouts six months after variants found
The chancellor will also commit £22m to fund "a world-first UK trial to test if different vaccines can be used together, or if a third dose can be effective," The Treasury said.
Studies from the trial will "provide a key part of the evidence base" to help the government decide on how to use combinations of vaccines to best protect against variants.
Sunak, said: “The UK’s vaccination programme has been a great success and is protecting lives and livelihoods, with over 19 million people already receiving their first dose.
He warned that it is "essential" that Britain maintains this "momentum." Adding: “Protecting ourselves against the virus means we will be able to lift restrictions, reopen our economy and focus our attention on creating jobs and stimulating growth.”
Whilst the UK government is leading the vaccine procurement and supply, the roll-out is devolved in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As such the devolved administrations will get Barnett consequential as a result of the additional £1.65bn investment. The other measures are UK wide.
It comes as AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said that hopes to be able to rollout adapted vaccines “six to nine months” after the discovery of new coronavirus variants, earlier in February.
The pharmaceutical firm added it was focused on “optimising” its established supply chain and making the most of existing clinical data to speed up turnaround times adapting its C19VAZ jab.
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