UK’s Covid vaccine programme must rebuild trust before next pandemic strikes, inquiry warns

Heather Hallett hails vaccine scheme but criticises rule that only those meeting 60% disabled threshold can get payouts

The UK’s Covid vaccination programme was “an extraordinary feat” with protective jabs developed and delivered in record time, but work is now needed to rebuild trust in vaccines and ensure better access before the next pandemic strikes, an official inquiry has found.

Lady Hallett, the chair of the statutory inquiry into the pandemic, said the vaccine rollout and the identification of an inexpensive steroid that saved the lives of thousands of UK patients, were “two of the success stories” of the pandemic.