IT was a proud day to be from Teesside tonight as the Government confirmed 60 million doses of a new Coronavirus vaccine will be made in the region. 

The clinical trials have shown the vaccine to be 89.3% effective in preventing coronavirus in participants, as well as efficacy against new UK variant.

The UK has secured 60 million doses of the vaccine, with manufacturing set to take place at Fujifilm Diosynth in Billingham, Teesside.

The vaccine will be delivered in the second half of this year, if approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who will assess whether the vaccine meets robust standards of safety, effectiveness and quality.

Teessiders have been quick to welcome the news, which has been supported by Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock, in their own unqiue way, with plenty of references to parmos and garlic sauce!

@DaveNotInSpace - "Best thing that’s happened to Teesside since Juninho."

@SocialHistoryOx - "Jeff Stelling’s going to have a field day about this."

@RickRicklong - "The Teesside vaccine will be injected into a chicken breast, covered in breadcrumbs, deep-fried until crisp & golden and finished with a layer of béchamel sauce and melted cheese."

@Biblio_Bat - "If it doesn’t come in a tub of garlic sauce atop a plate of chips then we Teessiders won’t entertain it, as is our right."

@ChrisHunneysett - "One jab on Teesside, there’s only one jab on Teesside etc etc"

@jessmsharkey - "It’s a T-T-Teessider"

@Emma_L_R - "Amazing news - great to see the #NorthEast shining yet more light into the future."

@AHSN_NENC - "This is fantastic news - brilliant effort from all the research staff involved to get it to this point and amazing that, if approved, the vaccine will be manufactured in Teesside."

@maybeavalon - "Sod the Oxford Vaccine, I demand to express my regional pride through the Billingham Vaccine

@cestrache - "lt the world and now we’re vaccinating... well the U.K. at least. Teesside to the rescue!"

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted tonight: "Good news that the Novavax vaccine has proved effective in UK trials. Thank you to all the volunteers who made these results possible.

"Our medicines regulator will now assess the vaccine, which will be made in Teesside. If approved, we have 60m doses on order."

Mr Hancock added: "This successful trial is ANOTHER great UK vaccine success story. Global scientific collaboration. UK govt support. Made in Teesside. Thank you to everyone working on it. Our vaccine strategy is working.

"We have spent the last year investing in onshore vaccine manufacturing. We welcome global companies working with the NHS to develop new life saving vaccines and deliver jobs for Teesside."

Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen said: “The news that the Novavax coronavirus vaccine has passed its third and final stage of clinical trials is more good news in the fight against the virus. This means very soon, once the medicines regulator the MHRA give it the green light, we will have a fourth vaccine in our armoury to use against the virus.

“All 60million doses of the lifesaving vaccine will be manufactured right here in Teesside by Fujifilm Diosynth at their BioCampus in Billingham.

“Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve worked closely with government ministers and officials to make sure our hugely talented and world leading bioscience sector played a full role in vaccine production, this culminated in the deal being struck in August last year for Fujifilm Diosynth being the sole UK manufacturer of the Novavax jab.

“Once again Teesside is leading the way and putting itself on the world stage for the fantastic work we do in our region. This is a significant announcement that everyone in Teesside should be proud of as we are at the forefront of the nation’s efforts to get life back to normal and protect us all.”