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By Michael Holden
LONDON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it had
agreed deals to buy 114 million more Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna
COVID-19 vaccine shots, saying it had sped up signing the new
contracts in light of the emergence of the new Omicron variant.
The deal involves an additional 60 million Moderna
shots and 54 million Pfizer doses for next year and
2023, and will also include access to any modified vaccinations
if they are needed to combat the Omicron strain or any other
variant, the British health ministry said.
"These new deals will future proof the Great British
vaccination effort – which has so far delivered more than 115
million first, second and booster jabs across the UK – and will
ensure we can protect even more people in the years ahead,"
health minister Sajid Javid said.
So far, nearly 51 million people in Britain have received
their first COVID vaccine - almost 89% of the population aged
over 12, more than 46 million have had two doses, and some 18.6
million have received a booster shot.
On Tuesday Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a new
target this week to offer all adults a vaccine booster by the
end of January, which means speeding up the rollout by an extra
million doses a week.
So far 32 cases of the heavily mutated Omicron variant,
which it is feared could be more transmissible, have been
identified in Britain which has sparked the government into
ramping out the vaccine programme.
Britain has made it mandatory to wear masks on public
transport and shops, but Johnson and his ministers hope the
booster programme will mean there will be no need for further
restrictions or measures to curb social gatherings.
The contracts for the additional vaccines come on top of an
order for 35 million Pfizer shots made in August for the second
half of next year, and for 60 million Novavax and 7.5 million
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)/Sanofi doses which are due in 2022 but are
yet to be approved by the British regulator.
Wealthy countries have been accused of not doing enough to
distribute stockpiles of vaccines to poorer nations, and the
British government said it remained committed to donating 100
million doses by the middle of 2022, saying 30 million would be
donated by the end of this year.
Johnson will also on Thursday host a roundtable of leaders
from major pharmaceutical firms including AstraZeneca, GSK and
Pfizer to discuss preparations to deal with any future
pandemics.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by David Evans)
