Covid-19: Vaccines will be tested against variants of concern after £29m funding boost from UK government

The efficacy of different covid-19 vaccines against variants of concern, including those first identified in the UK and South Africa, will be assessed by Public Health England after a funding boost from the government. The UK government’s Vaccine Taskforce has announced £29.3m (€34m; $40.8m) in extra funding for new facilities at Porton Down in Wiltshire, which will increase the site’s capacity for testing variant samples from 1500 to 3000 a week. This is on top of a £19.7m investment approved last September to increase capacity for clinical testing of vaccines. The government has said that the Porton Down facilities will also be used for work to update existing vaccines to specifically target variants. Data are currently limited on the efficacy of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 variants, as many of the earlier vaccine trials were carried out before these variants emerged.