Greg Clark asks what the plan is if there is a "vaccine escape" from coronavirus, through a new variant.

"mRNA technologies can develop a new vaccine" for a new variant "in a matter of days," replies Hancock.

In the meantime, the tools that would be used are the ones "that we have available".

"Is there a plan for this, is it written down?" asks Clark.

Greg Clark asks if it would be a good idea to publish such a plan ahead of time.

Hancock says he would "consider" this, but "vaccine escape is a relative, not an absolute".

"Writing a plan for an absolute vaccine escape, is essentially writing up a plan for a new pandemic," Hancock says. "We are better prepared by a long shot for a new pandemic," he adds.

And that brings an end to Hancock's appearance in front of the committee.

Elsewhere at the House of Commons, the chief civil servant of the Department of Health, Sir Chris Wormald, has been appearing before the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

As part of its inquiry - "Initial lessons from the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic", the permanent secretary outlined the costs of the protective equipment.

He told MPs the cost of storing PPE supplies is running at £6.7m a week*.

Referring to the 12.6 billion currently being stored in the UK, he said on today's numbers "it's costing us approximately £6.7m a week to store".

He said storage costs had fallen since January this year, but it remained a "large cost".

A campaign group for families bereaved by Covid-19 has said Matt Hancock's evidence to MPs shows "he blames everyone but himself and the government for the handling of the pandemic".

In a statement posted to Twitter, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK said: "Scientists, the public and advisers are all seemingly at fault according to a minister who suggested he was continually unaware of important details. Even when directly challenged to agree that the first lockdown came too late he shirked the opportunity to show humility, instead choosing to speak on something else while not denying what we all know - the late lockdown cost lives. Hundreds of thousands of bereaved families will have felt a shudder as Matt Hancock stated 'sometimes you have to put yourself in jeopardy'. The truth is it was our loved ones who were placed in jeopardy and they paid for it with their lives."

Matt Hancock made a number of claims during the course of his evidence to the science and health joint committee which have subsequently been questioned by MPs and some scientists.On issues such as the supplies of PPE, the rationing of care, and asymptomatic transmission, the health secretary’s account was repeatedly challenged. Some of the areas where Mr Hancock’s statements came in for close scrutiny include: