The government is consulting on legal changes that would
assist the distribution of coronavirus and flu vaccines, by
amending the exemptions to various criminal offences. John Binns
looks at the detail.
What does the law say now?
The regulation of medicinal products in the UK is a complex
affair, largely governed by the myriad provisions of the Human
Medicines Regulations 2012 (the HMRs). In broad terms, there are a
number of activities that are subject to criminal liability
(punishable with up to two years' imprisonment) unless both the
person doing them, and the product they are doing it with, are
licensed, unless certain exemptions apply. In practice, this
enables the intervention of the regulator, which (in England and
Wales) is the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
(the MHRA).
