Britain on Friday said it had agreed on a deal with German biotech firm CureVac to work to develop vaccines against coronavirus variants, placing an initial order for 50 million doses in case they are needed.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson has cited the possibility of new variants of the coronavirus as one of the biggest risks to the vaccine rollout and hopes that the economy can start to be reopened from lockdown in the spring.
The government said both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines being currently rolled out appear to work well against variants currently dominant in Britain.
The government said that almost all vaccines developed through the partnership would be variants of CureVac's existing shot, which is currently undergoing late-stage clinical trials.
For CureVac, the alliance marks another move to catch up with leading mRNA vaccine developers BioNTech and Moderna and to regain the pole position for a new generation of vaccines that prevent more than one variant in one treatment course.
