LONDON: Britain has agreed a initial supply of 50 million doses of vaccines for new variants, Heath Secretary Matt Hancock said on Monday, although he added that evidence showed the shots already being deployed had some effect against the mutations.

"The evidence is that the existing vaccines have some effect against new variants, particularly preventing serious illness and mortality," Hancock told a news briefing on Monday.

He said Britain had entered into a partnership with the manufacturer CureVac to develop vaccines that could be quickly adapted as new strains were identified.

"We've agreed an initial supply of 50 million doses to add to the 400 million doses that are already in our vaccine portfolio," he said.