Covid vaccine: Up to 60m doses of Novavax jab to be produced in UK

The government has signed an agreement for up to 60 million doses of a new coronavirus vaccine to be produced in UK, Boris Johnson has announced.

In a press conference on Monday the prime minister said the deal with GlaxoSmithKline would see the Noavax jab produced in the North East of England.

The “fill and finish” for the vaccine will take place at GSK’s facility at Barnard Castle, he confirmed.

This would end up “giving us between 50 and 60 million doses of UK-made vaccine”, Mr Johnson said, subject to approval from regulators.

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The decision comes after weeks of back and forth between the UK and EU about vaccine supply and possible export controls.

The bloc has threatened to impose controls on what could be exported to countries whose vaccine programmes are further ahead than that of its member states and where infection rates are lower.