The UK government is investing millions to secure two more experimental vaccines against Covid-19, increasing the chances of obtaining a vaccine that works for the population. The agreement is to buy 90m doses of two vaccines, which would be enough to immunise frontline health workers and care staff, who will be the priority. The government is effectively hedging its bets – the two vaccines work in a different way from the Oxford vaccine, of which it has already bought 100m doses. It is also urging the public to sign up to take part in trials of Covid-19 vaccines, in the hope of having 500,000 people registered as willing to take part by October. The business secretary, Alok Sharma, said the UK had signed a deal to buy 30m doses of the mRNA vaccine being developed by the German company BioNTech with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. The companies recently announced positive results from phase 1 trials, which show it is safe and produces an immune response – although with some side-effects at higher doses. The other vaccine is being developed by the French company Valneva, which unlike Oxford and BioNTech has not been viewed as one of the early frontrunners in vaccine research. The agreement is to buy 60m doses – in principle. If the vaccine is proven to be safe, effective and suitable, the UK has secured an option to acquire a further 40m doses. “The hunt to find a vaccine is a truly global endeavour and we are doing everything we can to ensure the British public get access to a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible,” said Sharma. “This new partnership with some of the world’s foremost pharmaceutical and vaccine companies will ensure the UK has the best chance possible of securing a vaccine that protects those most at risk.” Effectively three different approaches to making a vaccine are now covered. The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is an adenoviral vaccine. More data on the early trials of the Oxford vaccine is expected later on Monday and is likely to be promising. The BioNTech/Pfizer candidate is an mRNA vaccine – as is the vaccine being developed by Imperial, which has received research funding from the UK government and entered human trials last month. These use the genetic code rather than the virus itself. Valneva is working on a more traditional approach, using a whole inactivated virus. The company works on vaccines to prevent neglected diseases that cause major disease burdens in some of the less wealthy countries of the world, such as the chikungunya virus. It also produces more lucrative vaccines for travellers, including Dukoral against cholera. Its Covid-19 vaccine uses the manufacturing technology for its Japanese encephalitis vaccine. Part of the UK government’s enthusiasm for the Valneva vaccine is because its factory is located in Livingston, Scotland. The UK government will contribute to the costs of Valneva’s UK clinical trials and is negotiating funding to expand the Scottish factory, creating more jobs and boosting the local economy, it says. The government has launched a register for people who are willing to take part in the vaccine trials and is urging them to sign up. “A safe and effective vaccine is our best hope of defeating coronavirus and returning to life as normal,” said the health secretary, Matt Hancock. “We have some of our best scientists and researchers working on this, but members of the public have a vital role to play too. So I urge everyone who can to back the national effort and sign up to the NHS Covid-19 vaccine research registry to help find a vaccine as soon as possible. “Every volunteer will be doing their bit towards finding a vaccine for Covid-19 that will have the potential to save millions of lives around the world and bring this pandemic to an end.” Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said: “Thanks to Covid-19 patients’ willingness to take part in treatment studies, we’ve been able to identify treatments that work and ones that don’t, which has improved patient care world-wide. “Now that there are several promising vaccines on the horizon, we need to call again on the generosity of the public to help find out which potential vaccines are the most effective. Using a new NHS website developed in partnership between the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and NHS Digital, people across the UK can register their interest to be approached to join a vaccine study. Please go to the website and consider volunteering.”