§ Dr. GibsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if the Government plan to set up their own vaccine production organisation. [53894]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 2 May 2002]: There are no plans for the Government to set up their own vaccine production organisation.
§ Norman BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what consideration his Department gave to tests on the(a) Lister and (b) New York strains in smallpox vaccines; and what conclusion they drew, with particular reference to the superiority or otherwise in relation to other strains in vaccines. [54657]
§ Mr. Hutton[holding answer 8 May 2002]: The choice of new vaccine was made on the basis of advice from the scientific community and from across Government. The advice of experts under the auspices of a specially convened sub-group of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation was sought specifically in relation to strain type and vaccine efficacy. Their advice was that there was no significant difference between the two strains on scientific grounds. Vaccines based on both strains were considered to have been effective in the past, and both strains are expected to produce effective new vaccines for the future.
Though vaccines based upon both strains were used as part of the World Health Organisation's eradication campaign, there was a greater body of evidence to demonstrate the efficacy of the Lister strain vaccine than for the New York City board of health (NYCBH) strain. The Lister based smallpox vaccine, preferred by the UK Government, has been challenged in the field more often by the more severe form of smallpox (variola major) than the NYCBH strain.
A dual approach, using a different strain for UK vaccine to that preferred by the US Government,as in the past, is considered to offer the best scope for successful new vaccine production,and provides a fall back mechanism if difficulties arise with the production of either vaccine.