Half a billion doses of Oxford/AZ vaccine released for supply globally, Matt Hancock reveals

More than half a billion doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine have been released for supply globally, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.

Speaking at the Jenner Institute in Oxford, he said the majority of the vaccines would go to "low and middle income countries." 

He said the vaccine was "the greatest gift that this nation could give the world during this pandemic" and that its ease of storage "offers hope for the developing world."

Matt Hancock makes the announcement speaking at the Jenner Institute in Oxford.

"So, as well as the money that we've donated - giving half a billion pounds to Covax (the global vaccine sharing facility) - we've also given the world the vaccine, which makes up 96% of those Covax doses.

"As of today, I can confirm that over half a billion doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine have now been released for supply globally, the majority of them in low and middle income countries." 

Mr Hancock also announced the government has started commercial negotiations with AstraZeneca to secure a "variant vaccine" adapted to tackle the beta coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.

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He said: "There is yet more to do, the work isn't over yet - we're still procuring all the time and planning what we need to keep this country safe, including new vaccines specifically targeted at variants of concern.

"I can tell you today that we've started commercial negotiations with AstraZeneca to secure a variant vaccine - future supplies of the Oxford /AstraZeneca vaccine that have been adapted to tackle the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa.

"Once again, we're leading the way and backing projects with potential, so we can keep our vaccination programme one step ahead of the virus and protect the progress that we've all made." 

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