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1328015

registered interest
date	25/05/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Coronavirus
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the latest evidence base which has led to the B1.351 COVID-19 variant being categorised as a variant of concern, particularly in regard to its transmissibility.
tabling member printed	Lord Oates
uin	HL580
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2021 answer text <p>The B.1.351 COVID-19 variant was categorised as a variant of concern (VOC) on 23 December 2020 by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group. The decision to raise this lineage to a VOC was taken on the basis of reports indicating that the strain had replaced pre-existing strains in parts of South Africa and that there were two cases of B.1.351 identified in the United Kingdom with links to travel from South Africa. The genetic variations identified in the spike protein of B.1.351 were also cause for concern.</p><p>The three substitutions in the receptor binding domain, and in particular the E484K substitution, were thought to result in weaker neutralisation by some monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal neutralising sera. Although at the time there was no formal modelling from South Africa, the rapid spread of the variant could be consistent with increased transmissibility, which was also biologically plausible. More recent data has shown that B.1.351 has greater transmissibility than the original Wuhan strains of the virus. Evaluation was at an early stage when the recommendation to escalate this lineage was taken. A copy of PHE Risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 variant: VOC-202012/02 (origin: South Africa) of 23 December is attached.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 03/06/2021 11:13:19 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell attachment 1 file name HL580 20201223_VOC-202012 02_SARS-COV-2 variant risk assessment tool_v2.0.docx title PHE Risk assessment for SARS-CoV-2 variant
tabling member	4549 label Biography information for Lord Oates

1328016

registered interest
date	25/05/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Vaccination
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what scientific evidence they have on the effectiveness of the (1) Pfizer, and (2) Astra Zeneca, vaccines in reducing (a) hospitalisations, and (b) symptomatic infections, linked to the B1.351 COVID-19 variant; and what plans they have to publish this evidence.
tabling member printed	Lord Oates
uin	HL581
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/06/2021 answer text <p>Public Health England (PHE) is researching the effectiveness of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines against the B1.351 variant. PHE will publish advice in the weekly COVID-19 vaccine surveillance report once sufficient data is available.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 10/06/2021 11:56:58 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell
tabling member	4549 label Biography information for Lord Oates

1328017

registered interest
date	25/05/2021
answering body	Department of Health and Social Care
answering dept id	17
answering dept short name	Health and Social Care
answering dept sort name	Health and Social Care
hansard heading	Coronavirus: Screening
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to cooperate with the scientific community of South Africa on genomic sequencing relating to COVID-19.
tabling member printed	Lord Oates
uin	HL582
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/06/2021 answer text <p>The United Kingdom has large-scale sequencing capacity and extensive specialist expertise and is uniquely positioned to help address global sequencing capability gaps. Through the New Variant Assessment Platform (NVAP) programme, Public Health England (PHE) will work to support global partners to strengthen their genomic sequencing capability, either by building on existing infrastructure or by conducting sequencing and analysis of samples in the UK if there is no in-country capability.</p><p>The NVAP will also enable the biological assessment of emerging variants, strengthening horizon scanning and public health decision-making, both in this country and abroad. This includes a risk assessment from the point when a mutation is first identified, to ongoing assessment as more information becomes available. The platform will also agree pathways for biological analysis, diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics as appropriate. PHE is working with the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to deploy a Technical Advisor for regional level support.</p> answering member printed Lord Bethell question first answered 03/06/2021 10:08:50 answering member 4708 label Biography information for Lord Bethell
tabling member	4549 label Biography information for Lord Oates