- Title: Protecting the UK is vaccination priority, Hancock says
- Date: 4th June 2021
- Summary: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 4, 2021) (REUTERS FOR INTERNATIONAL POOL) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY, MATT HANCOCK, SAYING: "Well, of course, my first role - my first duty - as Health Secretary for the UK is to make sure that the UK is protected and safe, and whilst thankfully children are very rarely badly affected by COVID themselves, they can still pass on the disease. And so that is my first duty. Alongside that I'm working with my international colleagues to make sure that people can get access to the vaccine around the world, and in particular of course the Oxford vaccine. Half a billion doses have already been delivered globally and more than half of them in low and middle income countries." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY, MATT HANCOCK, SAYING: "Well, the biggest contribution that we've made already is the agreement we reached over a year ago with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to make sure that the vaccine is available at cost. So, over 95% of all the doses in the international programme called COVAX, which is there to to vaccinate people in low income countries, over 95% of those doses are the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. As and when we have excess doses that we don't need here in this country, then absolutely, we'll be looking to how they can be best deployed around the world. But as I say, at the moment we don't have any excess doses, we're just getting them into arms as quickly as possible." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY, MATT HANCOCK, SAYING: "Well, we publish all the information that we have about the new variants, including the Delta variant, and we take this approach of full transparency. The data on the impact on hospitalisations are very early data, so we can't yet conclude with any confidence that there's an impact on your risk of hospitalisation. But, of course, we published the early data and we watch it very carefully. Now, we always expected cases to rise as the as the country has opened up. The critical thing is the number of people who end up in hospital for any given number of cases. That link has been broken by the vaccine, but it hasn't been completely severed yet. And that's one of the things that we're watching very carefully, and it's too early to say what the decision will be ahead of the 21st June, but we'll make sure people know in good time." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY, MATT HANCOCK, SAYING: "Well, the truth is you don't need an IP waiver in order to deliver vaccines without any charge for the intellectual property rights. You can just get on and do it. That's what we did. It was more than a year ago that we struck the agreement with Oxford University and AstraZeneca to provide the Oxford vaccine around the world at cost. I'm delighted that Pfizer, have committed now to delivering the Pfizer vaccine at cost to low and the lower end of middle income countries around the world. So that's progress." WHITE FLASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY, MATT HANCOCK, SAYING: "This can be done. It doesn't need to change in the law. It doesn't need us to change the intellectual property rules because they are important rules for future investment in future vaccines - for instance against variants and flu and, and all the other things we need to vaccinate against. We don't need to change the law in order to deliver. We in this country just got on and did it." TREES PLANTED BY HEALTH MINISTERS VARIOUS OF PLAQUE READING (English): "THESE SAKURA CHERRY TREES WERE PLANTED IN MEMORY OF ALL THOSE AFFECTED BY COVID-19 ON THE OCCASION OF THE G7 HEALTH MINISTERS' MEETING, 3RD-4TH JUNE 2021" GARDENNG GLOVES TREES PLANTED BY HEALTH MINISTERS
- Embargoed: 18th June 2021 17:17
- Keywords: COVAX COVID-19 Matt Hancock coronavirus health minister health secretary pandemic planting trees vaccinations vaccines
- Location: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: OXFORD, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA002EFZKLDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Friday (June 4) vaccinating children in the United Kingdom against COVID-19 would take priority over donating vaccine doses to other countries around the world.
"My first duty as health secretary for the UK is to make sure that the UK is protected and safe, and whilst thankfully children are very rarely badly affected by COVID themselves, they can still pass on the disease," Hancock said after a meeting of G7 healthcare ministers in Oxford, central England.
"Alongside that I'm working with my international colleagues to make sure that people can get access to the vaccine around the world, and in particular of course the Oxford vaccine."
Hancock was speaking after health ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) rich countries met at the University of Oxford, where AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was invented, and which comes ahead of a leaders meeting next week.
One topic of contention is U.S. President Joe Biden's support for a vaccine patent waiver to boost vaccine production and allow more equitable distribution.
Britain and some European countries have expressed reservations.
Hancock said Britain had already taken a huge step by making the Oxford AstraZeneca shot available at cost, citing how half a billion doses of the vaccine had already been delivered with the majority going to low and middle income countries.
"The truth is you don't need an IP waiver in order to deliver vaccines, without any charge for the intellectual property rights, you can just get on and do it," Hancock said.
"It doesn't need us to change the intellectual property rules because they are important rules for future investment in future vaccines."
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