Deal is intended to boost domestic supply amid fears potential export bans could hit vaccine shipments
The UK will produce up to 60m doses of a Covid-19 vaccine under a new deal struck to boost domestic supply, amid fears over potential export bans hitting shipments of vaccines from Europe and India.
A government source said the UK had always intended to build a domestic manufacturing capability but suggested that had been underlined by the bitter dispute with the EU, with Brussels threatening an export ban on supplies of the AstraZeneca vaccine based in a Netherlands plant.
Related: Coronavirus: April will be ‘second dose month’, says UK vaccines minister