Sir Patrick Vallance, UK chief scientific adviser, and Sir Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England, were both made Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath in the honours list.

Professor Sir Jonathan Nguyen Van-Tam, deputy chief medical officer for England, Sir Francis Atherton, chief medical officer for Wales, and Professor Sir Gregor Ian Smith, chief medical officer for Scotland, were also knighted.

Dame Jennifer Harries received a damehood, having served as chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency and head of NHS Test and Trace since April 2021.

Other knighthoods include Sir Anthony Finkelstein, a British engineer and computer scientist who is president of City, University of London, and was chief scientific adviser for national security until 2021.

Sir Robin Grimes was also knighted, having served as chief scientific adviser in the Ministry of Defence for nuclear science and technology and as professor of materials physics at Imperial College London.

Sir Paul Nurse also received a knighthood. He is an English geneticist, former president of the Royal Society, and chief executive and director of the Francis Crick Institute.