Dame Kate Bingham, the former chair of the UK's Vaccines Taskforce, has warned that the country is 'going backwards' in its readiness for another pandemic. Speaking to a joint session of the Health and Social Care and the Science and Technology Committees, she expressed bafflement at the dismantling of capabilities she helped establish during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bingham stated that the UK is only 'marginally' better placed to handle a new pandemic than before, criticising the lack of an expert leader to coordinate activities. 'People that understand manufacturing scale up, clinical development, regulation... all of that has gone,' she said, urging the government to implement recommendations made in December 2020.
In contrast, she noted that European countries have improved their preparedness by investing in rapid vaccine development against new pathogens. Sir John Bell, a top virus expert at the University of Oxford, echoed her concerns, saying he is 'less confident' that the UK is properly prepared for a future pandemic, which could be 'much worse' than the last.
A new report from the think-tank Policy Exchange, released alongside the committee session, makes 15 recommendations, including establishing a national immunisation board and modernising data systems. The Prime Minister's official spokesman rejected the criticism, pointing to investments such as the £13 million Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre and the UK Health Security Agency.
