£1 billion invested in health protection as new Pandemic Strategy published
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New Pandemic Preparedness Strategy has been published alongside the
UK Government's response to Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 report.
It demonstrates UK Government's ambition to rebuild pandemic
readiness and capabilities, with concrete actions backed by around
£1bn of investment in health protection. Security Minister Dan
Jarvis says reforms mark a “major improvement” in UK's approach to
pandemic preparedness. The UK's readiness for future pandemics
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The UK's readiness for future pandemics is being overhauled through the publication of a new Pandemic Preparedness Strategy, backed by around £1 billion of investment in health protection measures including enhancing our access to essential vaccines and therapeutics, improving our pandemic surveillance systems and expanding our ability to roll out testing to the whole population. Published by the Department for Health and Social Care today, the strategy outlines concrete action already taken across government to embed lessons from Covid-19:
The new strategy replaces a previous strategy for Pandemic Influenza published in 2011 and builds on wider reforms taking place through the 10 Year Health Plan. It has been directly informed by early findings from the largest ever pandemic exercise in UK history which took place in Autumn 2025. Exercise Pegasus saw every government department, the devolved governments, arms-length bodies, local resilience forums, and external stakeholders respond to the spread of a simulated pathogen over a number of weeks. This work sits alongside other action the government has already taken to build resilience in the vaccine supply chain since the last pandemic, including signing a ten year partnership with Moderna. The world leading pharmaceutical company has built a state of the art innovation and technology lab in Oxfordshire that is producing British-made vaccines to protect people across the country. Minister of Health for Public Health and Prevention, Minister Sharon Hodgson said: This strategy represents a serious, long-term commitment to protecting the public from future health threats. We learnt hard lessons from Covid-19, and it is our responsibility to act on them. Informed by Exercise Pegasus — the largest pandemic exercise in UK history — this strategy strengthens our capabilities, allowing us to respond faster and more effectively when the next health threat emerges. The public deserves nothing less. Minister of State for Security, Dan Jarvis, said: It's right we learn the lessons from the devastating impact Covid-19 had on our health service and society. Our new pandemic strategy marks a major improvement in the government's preparedness for future pandemics. Whether increasing the supply of British-made vaccines, or stockpiling PPE for key workers, we're working with partners across the public and private sector to take action to keep the country safe. Susan Hopkins, Chief Executive at the UK Health Security Agency, said: The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us the vital importance of being prepared for future health threats and this strategy underlines a shared commitment across Government to continue building our resilience capabilities. Our experience of responding to large-scale incidents and pandemics enables us to ensure that future responses are more effective, efficient and equitable, and we continue to play our part in developing our capabilities for diagnostics, surveillance, vaccine development and testing, to keep our country's health secure.” Publication of the strategy comes as the UK Government also publishes its response to the UK's Covid-19 Inquiry Module 2 report today, explaining how departments have strengthened decision-making processes, protections for vulnerable groups, and cooperation with devolved governments since the pandemic. This includes enhancements to the standards and selection process for SAGE, the government's team of scientific advisors, and a top-to-bottom review of the UK's crisis response framework. Further changes, which put vulnerable groups at the centre of emergency planning and provide devolved administrations with access to relevant emergency briefings, will enable a fairer, faster, and more coordinated crisis response across all four governments. Notes to editors:
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