Row grows as vaccine trials begin on humans
Britain’s health secretary and the government take differing views on who will be first in line for the jab if the UK’s trial of a vaccine is successful, Gordon Rayner writes.
Matt Hancock has insisted that British people must be the first in the queue for any UK-developed coronavirus vaccine, amid a growing row in Government on the issue.
Downing Street and its scientific advisers are refusing to make any promises over the UK distribution of any British-made vaccine, partly to hedge their bets if another country produces one first.
But the Health Secretary is determined that British taxpayers, who are funding two UK vaccine programmes at a cost of £42 million (NZ$86.5m), should be first to benefit if either project is successful.
A Department of Health and Social Care source said: ‘‘If Britain is first to develop a vaccine he wants to make sure British people have first refusal.’’
Scientists at Oxford University and Imperial College London have begun human testing of a possible vaccine, and Hancock has pumped money into ensuring Britain has mass production capabilities if the trials succeed. He said the investment was a gamble but ‘‘the upside of being the first country to develop a successful vaccine is so huge I am throwing everything at it’’.
Marking the launch of the human trials, Hancock said on Thursday night, local time: ‘‘We’re throwing everything at developing a coronavirus vaccine. Brilliant that from today the first trials on humans begin in the UK.’’
Two people were the first yesterday to be injected as part of Oxford’s coronavirus vaccine trial.
However, No 10 is sensitive to accusations of protectionism and also wants to ensure Britain can get supplies if another country develops a vaccine first. Some ministers are concerned a ‘‘Britain first’’ attitude might go down badly with other countries and put the UK at the back of the queue for any vaccine developed abroad, although Britain has contributed £250 million to a coordinated international effort to develop a vaccine through the Oslo-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer for England, said the question of who should be first to get a British-made vaccine was ‘‘not a straightforward position’’. He said: ‘‘The UK is going to want to get access to any effective vaccine, whether it’s developed in the UK or somewhere else.’’
His comments were in keeping with the scientific community worldwide, which regards the development of a vaccine as an international effort, the rewards of which should be based on need and not geography or politics.
A Downing Street spokesman said that Britain was funding UK vaccination programmes and also ‘‘making sure we have the capacity to produce them in the UK, so anyone in the UK who needed one could get them as quickly as possible’’.
But No 10 has steadfastly refused to say that British taxpayers would be given a British-developed vaccine first.
It came as researchers from the University of Oxford administered the first dose of the trial drug to one of its participants, while a second volunteer was given a meningitis vaccine, used for comparison purposes.
Elisa Granato, a microbiologist who volunteered to take part in the trial on her 32nd birthday yesterday, said she was ‘‘excited’’ to support the efforts. She told the BBC: ‘‘Since I don’t study viruses, I microbiologist and vaccine trial volunteer
‘‘Since I don’t study viruses, I felt a bit useless, so this is a very easy way for me to support the cause.’’
Elisa Granato
felt a bit useless, so this is a very easy way for me to support the cause.’’
Volunteer Edward O’Neill, a cancer researcher, said: ‘‘It seems like the right thing to do to ensure we can combat this disease and get over it a lot faster.’’
The Oxford Vaccine Group hopes to repeat the process with six more volunteers today and more next week.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation is expected to announce international collaboration to accelerate the development of new technologies into preventing, diagnosing and treating Covid-19. Michael Ryan, the head of the WHO Emergencies Programme, said that there must be ‘‘fair and equitable access for everybody’’ if a vaccine is successfully developed, regardless of where it is produced. –