By UK future-proofs variants with 114m new vaccine doses
The government have ordered 60 million more doses of the Moderna vaccine and 54 million additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The new deals mean that the UK will be stocked with an additional 114 million vaccine doses for the next two years.
Contract talks with Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna were accelerated amid the surge in cases of the new Omicron variant which has swept across Europe in recent weeks.
This new order of doses is in addition to the deal made in August of 35 million Pfizer, 60 million Novavax and 7.5 million GSK/Sanofi, which will be delivered next year.
Mandatory face mask rules were reintroduced in the UK on Tuesday as the UK to prevent the spread.
England have recorded 22 cases of the Omicron variant, with the UK total currently at 32.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the country to go through another “great British vaccination effort” as he announced that all adults will be offered a booster jab by the end of January.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid has said: “These new deals will future proof the Great British vaccination effort – which has so far delivered more than 115 million first, second and booster jabs across the UK – and will ensure we can protect even more people in the years ahead.
“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.”
The UK does already have enough doses of the Pfizer dose to deliver the expanded booster programme promised on Tuesday.
This order comes as the Pfizer boss warned that annual jabs may be needed to prevent any future restrictions coming into effect due to new variants.
Dr Albert Bourla told the BBC that annual jabs would give people a “very high level of protection” against future variants in the coming years.
