In an effort to prevent future pandemics from causing widespread disruption like Covid-19, the UK Government has unveiled the Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) science and defence technology campus in Porton Down, Wiltshire. This state-of-the-art facility will serve as a critical hub for scientists working to combat emerging infectious diseases and develop improved vaccines.
The VDEC will maintain live viruses in specialised containment facilities, focusing on pathogens that lack vaccines or where immunisation could be enhanced, such as flu, mpox, or hantavirus. Additionally, researchers will test new Covid-19 vaccines against emerging variants, target other diseases like tuberculosis (TB), and conduct phase one clinical trials for a potential world-first jab against Crimean-Congo haemorrhage fever, a tick-borne virus with a high fatality rate.
