On 01/04/2021 11:05, Tim Streater wrote:
On 01 Apr 2021 at 10:13:36 BST, nightjar wrote:

On 30/03/2021 21:20, Fredxx wrote:
...
As you say transparency is lacking but this publication:
Â*https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3226 "he UK government said that
the deals were commercially sensitive and would not say what it had paid
up front or whether it would get any money back if the vaccines did not
work."

"Has the UK pre-ordered a vaccine or drug before its approval before?
No, this is a first."..

I am surprised at that. Seasonal flu vaccine is different every year and
has to be approved anew every year. The vaccine has to be grown after
the WHO has decided which strains are likely to be a problem next
season. That takes a few months, after which they have to go through the
approval process. Even allowing for the fact that there is a well-proven
fast track approval process for seasonal flu vaccine, that can't leave a
lot of time to place orders for the next flu season.

I saw a clip of Sir John Bell being interviewed on NBC yesterday. He was
pointing out that it will be easier to deal with Covid variants since most of
the production structure would remain unchanged, and it wouldn't be necessary
to go through the full aprovals process - just like flu.


The full approval process can take a year or even more, which isn't
usually a problem, given that the vaccine has often taken years to
develop. Seasonal flu has to be developed and approved between flu seasons.

--
Colin Bignell