UK cancels Covid vaccine deal with French firm Valneva

CoronavirusUK cancels Covid vaccine deal with French firm ValnevaGovernment serves notice to terminate contract over allegations of a ‘breach of obligations’ Coronavirus – latest updates See all our coronavirus coverage Jamie Grierson and Rob DaviesMon 13 Sep 2021 08.35 EDTFirst published on Mon 13 Sep 2021 03.07 EDTThe UK government is to pull out of a deal with the French pharmaceutical company Valneva to buy its Covid-19 vaccination, the company has said.The move will come as a blow to the vaccine manufacturing site in Livingston, west Scotland, which was visited by the prime minister, Boris Johnson, in January.About 100m doses of the yet-to-be-approved vaccine were put on order after the UK increased its request by 40m in February. But in a U-turn, the government has served notice to terminate the contract over allegations of a breach of the agreement.Scotland’s health secretary, Humza Yousaf, told BBC Good Morning Scotland: “This is a blow for the facility in Livingston. We are very keen and will be reaching out to the company to try to get security and secure a future for that facility in Livingston; we hope that would be with Valneva.“Clearly, when it comes to their supposed alleged failure to meet their contract obligations, we obviously are looking for more information from the UK government and would expect that shortly.”The Livingston MP Hannah Bardell said: “This has come as a huge blow to my constituency, in which the facility is …

13/09/2021