The government welcomes the opportunity to respond to the recommendations made by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology Committee in their joint report ‘Coronavirus: Lessons Learned to Date’, published on 12 October 2021.1 As the report recognises, COVID-19 has been the biggest crisis our country has faced in generations, and the greatest peacetime challenge in a century. The scale and extent of the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic have stretched across government and the government agrees that lessons should be learned. The government has worked relentlessly to respond to the pandemic, taking quick and decisive action to save lives and livelihoods and protect our National Health Service (NHS). This includes, of course, our world-leading vaccine roll-out programme. Throughout, we have adapted and learned lessons from the COVID-19 experience, in order to inform our preparedness for future crises.