Covid-19 Update

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Tuesday 9th November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Sajid Javid]

I gently say to the hon. Lady that she really should not try to play politics with the story that she is perpetuating about the Prime Minister on a hospital visit yesterday. As the hospital trust said, and as I am sure she knows, the Prime Minister and his team followed all the rules that they were required to follow, whether they were about face masks or otherwise, in that hospital. Something tells me that she knows that, but sadly she has decided that she wants to play politics with such an important issue.

As for information on vaccination rates in Bristol, the hon. Lady knows that every region of England has a director of public health. She probably knows who hers is, and they will be able to supply a lot of information. If she is having any difficulty getting that information, I will certainly help her in any way that I can.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

I declare my interest as a vaccinator. I support the Government’s position, but will my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State tell us what assessment he has made of the risk of transmission of coronavirus from an apparently healthy person to a vulnerable person? As with hepatitis B, the only justification for the measure must be that there is a significant risk of transmission.

Furthermore, will he reassess his position on flu following the comments of his two predecessors, which I support? Will he ensure that we do nothing to trespass on the rights of individuals unless it is absolutely essential to keep vulnerable people safe? Finally, will he say why he has gone for 1 April? If this has to be done, it is better to do it quickly. By the spring, we will clearly be past the winter pressures that we are all concerned about.

[Sajid Javid]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his support. On the assessments that we have done, I have shared some information with the House, and there will be an impact statement followed by an impact assessment that will give him more information. It may be helpful for him to know that studies already in the public domain show that against the delta variant, the AstraZeneca vaccine is 65% effective and the Pfizer vaccine is 85% effective in preventing infection. The fewer people who are infected in these settings, the less spread there will be.

I think I have set out the Government’s thinking on flu, but it remains under review. There are many reasons why we have focused on the 1 April date, but the main one is to give those in the NHS who have not yet had a single jab—there are 100,000 of them—to make the positive decision to get vaccinated.