Valneva vaccine: what is the potential new Covid jab, how does it work - and where is it being made in Scotland?

The vaccine candidate is being manufactured in Livingston

Large-scale manufacturing of a Covid-19 vaccine candidate has started in Scotland.

French biotech company Valneva has begun to make its jab candidate in Livingston, West Lothian, the UK Government announced on Thursday (28 January).

The government said it had invested millions of pounds in the Livingston facility to secure early access to the first doses of the potential vaccine, which is still in clinical trials and has not yet been given regulatory approval.

French biotech company Valneva has started to make its vaccine candidate in Livingston (Getty Images)

It comes as more than 7.1 million people in the UK have received at least a first dose of the coronavirus jab.

Here is everything you need to know about the possible new Valneva vaccine.

How does the vaccine work?

Valneva’s vaccine offering uses an inactivated whole virus, which is similar to the jabs developed by Sinopharm and Sinovac in China, and Bharat Biotech in India.

This type of vaccine contains viruses whose genetic material has been killed by heat, chemicals or radiation so they cannot infect cells, but can still provoke an immune response.

It is one of the most proven types of vaccine used across the globe, and it is the technology which is also used for flu, polio and rabies injections.

Where is the vaccine being made?

The “promising” vaccine is being made in conjunction with the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce at the Valneva plant in Livingston.

The government has said its multi-million pound investment in the development of the vaccine will support 100 new jobs at the facility, which is a doubling of the workforce.

The Scottish plant will act as a permanent base to make vaccines in the UK.

Chief Executive Officer of Valneva, Thomas Lingelbach, said: “Our team in Scotland have done an amazing job to get manufacturing started so quickly.

“We believe that our vaccine, assuming successful development, can make a major contribution in the UK and beyond.”

When will the vaccine be approved?

Valneva’s vaccine candidate is still in phase one and two clinical trials.

That means it will need to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before it is rolled out to the public.

Initial results from the current trials, which involve 150 participants at testing sites in Bristol, Southampton, Birmingham and Newcastle, are expected to be published in April.

These tests, carried out on a range of age groups, will show whether the vaccine produces a safe and effective immune response against the virus.

If they are successful, larger trials will be planned for after that, with more than 4,000 volunteers in the UK taking two doses.

Before it is approved by the MHRA, the vaccine candidate will need to meet the necessary safety and effectiveness standards that have applied to all the coronavirus jabs.

That means following a rigorous assessment of the available vaccine data.

It is hoped that, if approved, Valneva’s vaccine could be given to people in the UK at the end of 2021.

Manufacturing the potential vaccine at risk now means that it can be rapidly rolled out across the country if it is approved.

How many doses has the UK ordered?

Up to 60 million doses of Valneva’s vaccine have been secured for the UK, and these are due to be made by the end of 2021 dependent on regulatory approval.

If the potential vaccine is approved, there will then be the option to acquire a further 130 million doses.

The Livingston facility will potentially have the capability to produce up to 250 million doses of the vaccine for worldwide use.

So far, the UK has secured access to 100 million Oxford-AstraZeneca doses, 40 million Pfizer jab doses, and 17 million doses of the Moderna vaccine, in addition to the 60 million doses from Valneva.

What other Covid vaccines are made in the UK?

Production of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is well underway in the UK after it was approved at the end of last year.

Most of the vaccine’s doses are being made in Oxfordshire and Staffordshire, with the filling into vials taking place in North Wales.

Meanwhile, the Pfizer-BioNTech jab, the first to be approved in the UK, is being imported from Puurs in Belgium.

Moderna’s vaccine doses will come from Switzerland or Spain, but they will not arrive in the UK until spring.