The UK has agreed a contract for 35 million more doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, to be delivered from the second half of next year.

The Vaccine Taskforce is putting in place preparations to future-proof the country from the threat of coronavirus and its variants through safe and effective vaccines, as the UK’s world-renowned vaccination programme continues to protect the population.

These include robust plans for ensuring the country remains ahead of the virus for years to come and for any future booster programmes, as well as working to make the UK a global centre of excellence for the next generation of vaccines.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “The UK’s phenomenal vaccination programme is providing tens of millions of people with protection from Covid-19, saving 95,200 lives and preventing 82,100 hospitalisations in the over 65s in England alone.

“While we continue to build this wall of defence from Covid-19, it’s also vital we do everything we can to protect the country for the future too – whether that’s from the virus as we know it or new variants. I am pleased we’ve reached this agreement with Pfizer for more doses as part of our robust preparations to future-proof our vaccine programme, ensuring we have plans in place to keep the nation safe for years to come.”

The UK will also be donating 100 million vaccine doses within the next year. The donation of the first nine million doses was announced last month.