The Vaccine Taskforce in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was set up in April 2020 by the Second Johnson ministry, in collaboration with Chief Scientific Advisor Patrick Vallance and Chief Medical Officer Professor Chris Whitty, in order to facilitate the path towards the introduction of a COVID-19 vaccine in the UK and its global distribution.[1] The taskforce coordinated the research efforts of government with industry, academics and funding agencies in order to expedite vaccine development and deployment.[2][3]
The minister responsible for the body was the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, although the body was a joint unit of the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Oversight was by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment, and in November 2020 the first person to take this role was Nadhim Zahawi MP.
The Vaccine Taskforce closed in autumn 2022. Its role in vaccine supply was merged into the UK Health Security Agency, and its work in bringing vaccine manufacture in-country transferred to the Office for Life Sciences.[4]
- ^ "Kate Bingham appointed chair of UK Vaccine Taskforce". GOV.UK OGL v3.0. 16 May 2020.
- ^ "Government launches Vaccine Taskforce to combat coronavirus". gov.uk. 17 April 2020. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
- ^ Vaccine Taskforce Aims (PDF) (Report). www.gov.uk. 6 April 2020. p. 1. Retrieved 6 October 2020.
Currently there is work going on across government but it is not sufficiently coordinated. The taskforce will bring together government, industry, academics, funding agencies, regulators, logistics and finance to make rapid decisions to put the UK in a position to accelerate vaccine development and vaccinate the right proportion of the population as soon as possible after a vaccine is available.
- ^ "Vaccine Taskforce to merge with UKHSA and OLS". GOV.UK. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 17 June 2022.