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There are currently two Covid vaccines being administered in the UK, but the government has 407 million doses in total ordered from 7 companies. It is thought that £11.7 billion has been spent on Covid vaccines.
Covid vaccine doses in detail
The breakdown of the vaccines which the UK has ordered goes as follows:
- BioNTech/Pfizer – 40 million (APPROVED AND ROLLING OUT)
- Oxford/Astra Zeneca – 100 million (APPROVED AND ROLLING OUT)
- Moderna – 17 million (APPROVED BUT NOT YET IN UK)
- Novavax – Phase 3 – 60 million
- Janssen – Phase 3 – 30 million
- GSK/Sanofi – Phase 1/2 – 60 million
- Valneva – Phase 1/2 – 100 million (2022 DELIVERY DATE)
Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, said: “My attitude has always been we protect every UK citizen as fast as we can and at the same time we’re generous around the world.”
Oxford University-AstraZeneca
It is an adenovirus type vaccine based around weakened versions of adenoviruses. The safer virus’s job is to transport a protein spike taken from a Covid cell into the body so our immune system responds.
The vaccine was shown to be 70 per cent effective. Administering two full doses of the vaccine a couple of months apart gave 62 per cent effectiveness, but a half dose followed by a full one later was 90 per cent.
Pfizer-BioNTech
This is a mRNA type vaccine which is different from traditional vaccines in that they don’t introduce small or inactivated doses of the virus or the proteins it produces into the body to trigger an immune response. Instead it tricks the body into producing some of the virus proteins itself by using Covid’s genetic code telling cells to produce a Covid protein spike. This causes the immune system to produce antibodies.
The companies announced their vaccine is more than 94 per cent effective in over-65s.
Moderna
This is a mRNA vaccine like Pfizer-BioNTech.
The vaccine was nearly 95 per cent effective in trials.
Novavax
This is a protein adjuvant type vaccine. An adjuvant is a substance added to some vaccines to boost the immune response, and has been shown to create a more powerful and long-lasting immunity.
UK trials have shown it to be 89.3 per cent effective.
Janssen
This is a single shot adenovirus type vaccine.
A single dose is 66 per cent effective at preventing moderate to severe Covid-19 28 days after it is given, and 85 per cent against the most serious symptoms.
Valneva
This is an inactivated whole virus type. These actually contain whole bacteria or viruses which are dead, or tiny elements of them which when they enter the body cannot cause the disease, but cause an immune response.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Sanofi Pasteur
This is a protein adjuvant vaccine like Novovax.