Dr. Howard Stoate: I thank the Secretary of State for an excellent statement. I am sure that the entire country will be pleased to hear that not only is Britain more prepared than any other country in Europe, but we are more prepared than we ever have been. The most effective and likely way of dealing with pandemic flu is the development of an effective vaccine. There are two problems with that. First, we have to develop the vaccine when we have the virus, and therefore we cannot do it yet. The second big problem is capacity for production. The biggest bottleneck we have is that, when there is a vaccine available, it will take some time to produce enough doses. What discussions has the Secretary of State had with vaccine manufacturers to ensure that there is enough mothballed capacity in the vaccine manufacturing industry in Europe and across the world, to ensure that we get enough doses quickly enough when the vaccine is developed?

Alan Johnson: My hon. Friend raises a crucial point. That was an essential element of our negotiation of the advance supply agreement. We have the agreement with two companies: Baxter's and GSK. Part of that is to ensure that we get the proper level of supply, and to ensure that, in the event of an outbreak of a pandemic, the country that the vaccine is manufactured in ensures that it reaches this country and is not prevented from doing so by measures taken in the country of production. That is why we have insisted that the vaccine must be manufactured in the European Union and why we have insisted on a clause stating that either the country of manufacture must have an agreement for sufficient supplies to the host country or that the companies must make that country aware of the agreement with this country. That is as far as we can go to ensure that we have the proper measures. The fact that we have the advance supply agreements in place—only two or three countries have similar agreements, so we are one of the first—means that we are better placed than most other countries to deal with the situation.

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