MPs to examine UK preparedness for future pandemics
MPs will ask how well-prepared the UK is to stop a new pandemic in a follow-up session to the committee’s Coronavirus: lessons learnt joint inquiry.
Meeting details
UK Health Security Agency Chief Executive Professor Dame Jenny Harries and Professor Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, appeared before the committee in November 2022. He said at that time ‘a full plan was not yet in place’ to deal with a new pandemic. The government has set an ambition to stop a new pandemic within 100 days of emergence.
The committee is expected to raise questions about the legacy of the Vaccine Taskforce and concerns that have been raised since about the UK’s ability to develop and manufacture new vaccines. Greg Clark, Chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee will be guesting at the evidence session.
Professor Dame Jenny Harries is likely to be questioned about the UKHSA’s declaration of a national incident over measles in January and action needed to boost vaccine coverage.