Letter from the Health and Social Care Secretary to the JCVI: 8 April 2021
Published 8 April 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-from-the-health-and-social-care-secretary-on-use-of-the-moderna-vaccine/letter-from-the-health-and-social-care-secretary-to-the-jcvi-8-april-2021
From:
The Rt Hon Matt Hancock MP
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
To:
Professor Wei Shen Lim
Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)
Chair COVID-19 Immunisation (Nottingham University Hospitals)
Dear Professor Lim,
RE: JCVI considerations on use of Moderna in the COVID-19 vaccination programme and recommended dosing intervals.
Thank you for your letter of 7 April advising on deployment of the Moderna vaccine, and for the careful consideration by you and members of your committee of the data which has informed this advice.
I welcome your view that the evidence supports the use of Moderna for all those in phase 1 and 2 of the programme. I also note your recommendation for a 2-dose schedule with the second dose given between 4 to 12 weeks following the first dose, in line with other approved vaccines.
I will instruct my officials to finalise guidance and protocols in line with your advice, so this important addition to our suite of vaccines can be delivered to arms as soon as possible. Officials have also shared your advice with colleagues leading the vaccines deployment programmes in each of the 4 nations of the UK. I am aware that the authorisation arrangements for Moderna mean that there are different regulatory arrangements for its use in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Thank you for your continued expert advice which is so vital in the continuing progress of the programme in saving lives and taking us to a less constrained way of living.
Yours ever,
Matt Hancock
Cc: Jonathan Van-Tam (DCMO)