Covid UK: GlaxoSmithKline to ‘fill and finish’ 60million doses of Novavax vaccine

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Boris Johnson tonight revealed GlaxoSmithKline will support the manufacturing of up to 60million doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine in the UK.

No10’s vaccines taskforce has signed a deal with British drugs giant GSK to ‘fill and finish’ supplies of the American jab at its factory in Durham starting from May.

Mr Johnson said the move will ‘further boost our vaccine rollout’, which is slow down next month due to a a shortfall of five million AstraZeneca jabs from India.

The decision comes amid a vaccine war between the UK and EU which has seen the bloc threaten to block supplies of AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines made on the continent from being shipped to Britain. 

The GSK deal means the Novavax jabs will not have to leave the UK. The raw chemicals are being produced at a site in Stockton-on-Tees, but the original plan was for the vials to be prepared and packaged in Europe.  

Britain has secured 60million doses of the two-shot Novavax vaccine under an advance purchase agreement with the American firm, enough to fully vaccinate 30m Brits. Earlier this month Novavax announced its jab was 89 per cent effective at blocking symptomatic illness and stopped 100 per cent of hospital admissions and deaths.  

The Prime Minister told tonight’s Downing Street press conference: ‘I’m delighted by GSK’s investment, which shows the strength of UK manufacturing, and will further boost our vaccine rollout.

‘The vaccines taskforce has worked hand in glove with business to successfully deliver vaccines to the whole of the UK and this agreement will continue to support our approach.

‘We remain on track to offer a first jab to all over-50s by April 15, and all adults by the end of July, and I want to once again encourage everyone to come forward for a vaccine when you’re called.’

Novavax is due to submit its late stage trial data to Britain’s medical regulator in the coming weeks and approval is expected in May. So far three vaccines have been approved by the MHRA – made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna – and a fourth developed by Johnson and Johnson is currently under review.

Britain already has enough doses on order from AstraZeneca and Pfizer alone to vaccinate the entire nation with two doses. But officials anticipate ‘booster’ shots will need to be given annually to the elderly and vulnerable because immunity wears off quicker in those groups.

In other coronavirus developments today: 

• Pfizer says it plans to drastically ramp up production and is prepared to break with German firm it partnered with on breakthrough vaccine;
• Health workers are 90 per cent less likely to catch Covid after they receive two doses, according to US-based study on Pfizer and Moderna jabs;
• Fewer than 60 per cent of black Britons over-70 have had their Covid vaccine, while the rate is 91 per cent among white adults, ONS data reveals;
• Wetherspoons boss Tim Martin says jabs passports would be the ‘last straw’ for many struggling pubs;
• And amid loosening lockdown restrictions to allow three people from two households to meet, the Government confirms long-distance trips to the seaside are allowed;
• France won’t be added to the UK’s ‘red list’ of travel countries from which arrivals are subject to hotel quarantine rules, it has been claimed;
• Matt Hancock says trips abroad ‘may well’ happen this summer sparking hope getaways will still be allowed.

The Novavax jab differs from those already being used in the UK. It combines a genetically engineered protein that causes a weakened version of Covid with a plant-based ingredient to help generate a stronger immune response.

Novavax says people should be given two doses of the vaccine, three weeks apart. The vaccine, officially named NVX-CoV2373, can be stored in a regular medical fridge.

The site at Barnard Castle is a specialised facility in global manufacturing network which supports production of GSK pharmaceutical and vaccine products.

The protein antigen component of NVX-CoV2373 is also produced in the North East of England by Novavax’s manufacturing partner, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, at their site in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.

Roger Connor, president of GSK vaccines, said: ‘GSK is delighted to support Novavax and the UK vaccines taskforce with this manufacturing arrangement for the UK and our Barnard Castle facility is now undertaking the rapid preparation work required to manufacture up to 60 million doses of this vaccine.

‘We have ensured that we can deliver these volumes without impacting supply of our other vital medicines and vaccines, and without disruption to the other Covid-19 collaborations GSK is engaged in globally.’

It came as Britain’s daily Covid cases dropped 13 per cent in a week with 4,654 more infections today. 

Deaths have risen slightly to 23 — up from 17 last Monday. But the Department of Health’s official fatality toll relies on registrations, meaning day-to-day counts can fluctuate.

Experts would be baffled by any genuine spike in deaths because infection rates have not spiralled out of control since schools in England reopened on March 8. The mammoth vaccine drive, which has now reached 30.4million vulnerable adults, will also save thousands of lives.

Mr Johnson today warned Britons ‘don’t risk the progress we’ve made’, as England stepped out of lockdown straight into a three-day spring heatwave, with temperatures hitting 66.2F (24C) this afternoon and a predicted 76F tomorrow and Wednesday – just shy of the all-time record of 78F. 

Meanwhile, Professor Chris Whitty warned tonight that Britain’s ‘wall of vaccination’ against Covid is ‘leaky’ because jabs aren’t 100 per cent effective and millions have still yet to be fully inoculated, 

England’s chief medical officer acknowledged the wall — designed to stop the NHS from being overwhelmed and thousands from dying in the event of a third wave — will get stronger when top-up doses are dished out en masse in April.

But when asked if the UK was really at risk of enduring a third wave when lockdown restrictions are eased over the coming months, Professor Whitty said it is ‘not complete’.

Addressing the country from Downing St’s new £2.6million White House-style press briefing room, he said: ‘It’s a kind of a leaky wall, and therefore there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect.’

Flanked by Mr Johnson and Sir Patrick Vallance, Professor Whitty also warned it was ‘inevitable’ infections would rise when restrictions are relaxed over the coming months. He claimed reopening schools in England has already caused Covid cases to flatten off. 

Pointing to Sir Patrick’s slide that showed how the rate of coronavirus hospitalisations among four different age groups would be drastically lower if everyone was vaccinated, Professor Whitty said ‘we do have kind of a wall of vaccination that will get stronger with the second vaccines.

‘And I want to repeat my emphasis it is critical people get their second vaccine.

‘But it is not a complete wall, it is a kind of leaky wall. Therefore, there will always be some people who either have chosen not to be vaccinated, or where the vaccine has had much less effect.

‘If we get a small surge, there will be cases of people who have been vaccinated who will have severe disease, and there will be cases of people who are not vaccinated, a much higher proportion, who will get severe disease, and some of those will go on to die.’

Professor Whitty added: ‘If you get a very big wave, that would obviously lead to a significant impact. 

‘So that’s the reason why the Prime Minister and ministers have been absolutely determined that this is a slow and steady unlocking, looking at data between each step.’

Despite the gloomy warning that Britons could still die because vaccines aren’t a panacea, the Prime Minister said he could ‘categorically rule out’ another national lockdown. 

But he admitted that his promise came with ‘two very important provisos’, calling on Britons to keep obeying the guidance and making sure the current vaccines being deployed remain effective. 

More than 30.4million Britons have now had their first dose of a Covid vaccine, with 3.7million fully jabbed. 

Sir Patrick’s slide showed how the rate of coronavirus hospitalisations among four different age groups would be drastically lower if everyone was vaccinated.

For example, at the current rate of infection No10’s top scientists predict there would be almost 30 people out of every 100,000 Brits aged between 55 and 64 hospitalised with Covid over the next four weeks. With everyone in that age group vaccinated, it would plunge to six.

He said the data showed that vaccines are ‘very effective at reducing hospitalisations in everyone who gets them’, urging everyone eligible for a jab to book an appointment. 

However, he cautioned that jabs currently being deployed in Britain are not 100 per cent protective and that the modelling was based on current rates of infections.

Sir Patrick said: ‘If the rates were much higher then obviously the amount of hospitalisations would be higher, which reinforces the point that the thing that we all must do is try to keep rates down and be sensible as we unlock and get back to more interaction.’