In our assessment, many of the risks that the portfolio approach was intended to mitigate remain. Most notable among these is the risk that future variants of the virus may respond better to one vaccine than another, perhaps a vaccine the UK has not procured. We asked the Taskforce what it was doing to protect the UK against such risks. It agreed that it had indeed ended up with a narrow set of suppliers. But it considered that, in spite of continuing uncertainties, it had adequate provisions...

In our assessment, many of the risks that the portfolio approach was intended to mitigate remain. Most notable among these is the risk that future variants of the virus may respond better to one vaccine than another, perhaps a vaccine the UK has not procured. We asked the Taskforce what it was doing to protect the UK against such risks. It agreed that it had indeed ended up with a narrow set of suppliers. But it considered that, in spite of continuing uncertainties, it had adequate provisions to access timely variant vaccines for the UK at fixed prices, thereby protecting taxpayers against rising global prices.47 Type: conclusion | Number: 20 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5: PAC conclusion: After starting with a portfolio of seven candidates, the UK’s vaccine supply for 2022 and 2023 now relies primarily on just two, yet many of the risks that the ‘portfolio’ approach was intended to mitigate remain. 5: PAC recommendation: The Department and the Vaccine Taskfo