Global Covid vaccine rollout threatened by shortage of vital components

Pharmaceutical firms warn of delays to items such as the large bags in which vaccine cells are grown

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Vaccine-makers around the world face shortages of vital components including large plastic growbags, according to the head of the firm that is manufacturing a quarter of the UK's jab supply.

Stan Erck, the chief executive of Novavax - which makes the second vaccine to be grown and bottled entirely in Britain - told the Observer that the shortage of 2,000-litre bags in which the vaccine cells were grown was a significant hurdle for global supply.