The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has agreed to a deal for millions of life-saving vaccines to be produced in the UK if a future influenza pandemic is ever declared.[1]
What is UKHSA’s new vaccine deal?
UKHSA has agreed to an Advanced Purchasing Agreement (APA) with healthcare company CSL Seqirus. Under this arrangement, CSL Seqirus will be prepared to produce over 100 million influenza pandemic vaccines if or when a flu pandemic is officially declared.[2]
The vaccines will be tested, licensed, approved, and tailored to combat the specific pandemic flu strain identified at the time.[3]
They will be produced at CSL Seqirus’s existing manufacturing plant in Liverpool.[4]
Why is the new vaccine deal based in the UK?
Although there have been similar vaccine agreements previously, this is the first time the manufacturing process will be exclusively based in the UK.[5]
The benefits of this include speedy and more secure access to the vaccines for those who need them, it guarantees supply regardless of global demand and ensures that the UK maintains strong preparedness and swift response capabilities for any potential future threat.
Vaccine policy in the UK
This vaccine deal comes as UKHSA warned earlier this year of a drop in vaccination rates for young children. UKHSA data revealed that coverage for the ‘6-in-1’ vaccine decreased in the UK as well as coverage rates for rotavirus and meningitis B.[6] According to Policy Exchange, figures from NHS England demonstrate that in 2022, no routine childhood vaccination met the 95% uptake set by the WHO.[7]
As well as poor uptake rates, the Government published a review earlier this year revealing that the UK has been falling behind in its commercial clinical trials activity.[8] This threatens the opportunity for British patients to have early access to innovative treatments and reduces the desirability of the UK as a destination for life science investment, impeding the uptake of health innovations.[9]
The Health and Social Care Committee has declared that without action to address these challenges, the UK is at risk of losing its position as a global leader in vaccination.[10]
This new deal is the latest development in the UK’s ambition to re-position itself at the forefront of vaccine research, development, and manufacturing.
What is pandemic influenza?
Pandemic influenza is not the same as seasonal or avian influenza. Seasonal influenza circulates every year and causes thousands of deaths, although it tends to cause more mild symptoms among healthy adults because of existing immunity. Avian influenza is a disease primarily affecting birds and cannot be transmitted from human to human.[11]
Any new strain of influenza detected globally and being passed from person to person, against which we would have no immunity, could be categorised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as the cause of a global influenza pandemic.[12]
Influenza pandemics are unpredictable with regard to their timings, duration, and severity. Four influenza pandemics have occurred over the past 100 years, arising in 1918, 1957, 1968, and 2009.[13]
Pandemic influenza continues to be a major health security concern worldwide and for the UK.
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[1] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[2] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[3] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[4] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[5] Medscape, ‘UK Strikes Flu Pandemic Vaccines Deal with CSL Seqirus’, 26 September 2023, link
[6] UKHSA, ‘Quarterly vaccination coverage statistics for children aged up to 5 years in the UK (COVER programme): April to June 2023, 26 September 2023, link
[7] Policy Exchange, ‘A Fresh Shot’, 1 December 2022, link
[8] Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Department for Health and Social Care, Office for Life Sciences, ‘Commercial clinical trials in the UK: The Lord O’Shaughnessy review – final report’, 26 May 2023, link
[9] Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, Department for Health and Social Care, Office for Life Sciences, ‘Commercial clinical trials in the UK: The Lord O’Shaughnessy review – final report’, 26 May 2023, link
[10] Health and Social Care Committee, ‘UK’s world-leading role on vaccination at risk, warn MPs’, 27 July 2023, link
[11] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[12] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
[13] UKHSA, ‘UKHSA announces new UK-based vaccine deal’, 26 September 2023, link
