UK handing out $71b in deals to ramp up mass testing

LONDON • The British government is set to hand more than £40 billion (S$71 billion) to companies that can help in its drive to ramp up mass coronavirus testing.

Public Health England put a £22 billion contract to tender last week for a new "national microbiology framework agreement" that includes the manufacture and development of tests for two years, with the option to extend for another two years.

A separate £20 billion tender from the National Health Service Supply Chain involves on-the-spot tests and diagnostic equipment, while a third tender worth £912 million covers the supply of rapid turnaround lateral flow tests.

The total scale of the contracts - bigger than the annual budgets of some government departments - was revealed by the Financial Times on Tuesday.

"As part of an unprecedented response to this global pandemic, we have drawn on the expertise and resources of a number of public and private sector partners to support our testing programme," a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said, adding that the total represented the contracts' maximum value.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in September spoke of his hopes for millions of Covid-19 tests to be processed daily in a bid to help Britain return to normal life as soon as possible.

Liverpool in north-west England became the first city to undertake a mass testing programme last week, and the government said on Tuesday that this could be rolled out to 66 other local areas.

A survey published yesterday found that almost two-thirds of people in Britain said they would get vaccinated for Covid-19, but that young people are far more likely to refuse a jab.

The poll, by public opinion research firm Kantar, showed 22 per cent of respondents said they would definitely not or probably not get a coronavirus vaccine.

These respondents comprised 38 per cent of 18-to 24-year-olds, while only 5 per cent of those aged 65 and over and 16 per cent of those aged 55 to 64 said they would definitely not or probably not get vaccinated.

Health Minister Matt Hancock said on Tuesday that vaccinations for Covid-19 will be optional in Britain.

BLOOMBERG, REUTERS