COVID-19: More than £29m being ploughed into Porton Down laboratories
Cash will help speed up vaccines for new variants of coronavirus
Last updated 5th May 2021
The government is investing more money into the expansion of state-of-the-art laboratories at the top secret Wiltshire site where scientists test existing and new vaccines against variants of concern.
Tests on blood samples can help scientists monitor the effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccine.
Current testing capacity is 700 tests a week, a previous £20 million investment will see that increase to 1500 by January 2022.
The latest announcement of £29.3m means testing will double to 3,000 a week.
The Department of Health and Social Care says increasing the number of tests will allow vaccines designed to "combat specific mutations of COVID-19" to be developed quickly.
Since the pandemic started in March 2020, the virus that causes COVID-19 has managed to quickly develop several mutations that have concerned scientists, including the Kent, South African, Indian, and Brazil variants
Health Secretary Matt Hankock says that will help "future-proof" the country against the threat of new variants.
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said:
"A new variant that can escape the current vaccines is the greatest risk of a third wave. This new investment will help us stay one step ahead of the virus by doubling our capacity to test vaccine effectiveness against emerging variants.
"While we expect the existing vaccines to offer protection against new variants, particularly preventing serious illness and death, it is important that we continue to monitor the picture as it develops."
A date for when the new laboratories should be finished by has not been released by the government.