Covid: Two ministers took part in Novavax vaccine trials

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi and Treasury Minister Kemi Badenoch took part in trials for the Novavax vaccine against coronavirus.

Ms Badenoch has previously urged more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to sign up to vaccine trials.

Mr Zahawi said it was "great to see such encouraging results from the Novavax vaccine".

The vaccine has been shown to be 89.3% effective in large-scale UK trials and will now be examined by regulators.

Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said the government had bought 60 million doses of the vaccine and was "ready to distribute it into people's arms as soon as we can".

The doses are expected to be delivered in the second half of this year, if approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

The Phase 3 trials - the final stage before a vaccine is looked at by a regulator - enrolled more than 15,000 people aged between 18-84, of whom 27% were older than 65, US firm Novavax has said.

Ms Badenoch joined the trial at St Guy's and St Thomas' hospital in London.

In October 2020, the hospital said her participation came as researchers were calling on more people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds and the over 65s to volunteer for clinical studies through the NHS Vaccine Registry.

Ms Badenoch said: "We have to ensure every community trusts a future vaccine to be safe and that it works across the entire population.

"But with less than half a per cent of people on the NHS Vaccine Registry from a black background, we have a lot more work to do.

"That is why I am urging more people from ethnic minority backgrounds to join me in signing up to the NHS Vaccine Registry and taking part in a trial."

Labour MP Naz Shah has also taken part in vaccine trials saying she felt it was "my way of contributing to the good work hospitals and people up and down the country are doing to get the vaccine out".

On Thursday, black MPs from across the parties joined together in a video encouraging people to get the coronavirus vaccine.

And earlier in the week British Asian celebrities - including comedian Romesh Ranganathan and cricketer Moeen Ali - made a similar video dispelling Covid vaccine misinformation.