Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what priority for covid-19 vaccination has been given people living in sheltered housing.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
People aged 65 to 69 years old and those who are clinically vulnerable against COVID-19 are now being invited to book their vaccination. Many younger adults in residential care settings will be eligible for vaccination because they fall into one of the clinical risk groups. Given the likely high risk of exposure in these settings, where a high proportion of the population would be considered eligible, vaccination of the whole resident population is recommended. Younger residents in care homes for the elderly will be at high risk of exposure and although they may be at lower risk of mortality than older residents should not be excluded from vaccination programmes.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the cost of covid-19 testing for people who are required to travel regularly to visit relatives in Europe.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
People should be staying at home unless they have a valid reason to travel. For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of the testing charge, there will be an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. This is available for individuals who receive income-related benefits and they will be required to pay back the charge in 12 monthly instalments. All of these measures will be kept under constant review, including the impact on individuals with family ties in other countries.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Pfizer BioNTech covid-19 vaccine when there is a 12-week gap between the first and second dose for those aged over 80; and what evidence that assessment is based on.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Public Health England is monitoring the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines and has published early evidence on the efficacy of both the Pfizer/BioNTech and Oxford/Astrazeneca vaccines. The evidence suggests that a single dose of either vaccine is around 60 to 70% effective at preventing symptomatic disease in older adults and around 80% effective at preventing hospitalisations. There is also evidence that a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is around 85% effective at preventing deaths. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.03.01.21252652v1
Effectiveness of two doses with a 12-week gap will be monitored as more individuals start to receive their second dose.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to raise public awareness of exemptions from the requirement to wear coverings in public places during the covid-19 outbreak; and where and when those campaigns have taken place.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Our face covering guidance and associated communications campaign alerts the public to why and where face coverings are required, how to make them, how to wear them and what exemptions there are. This has spanned a number of different mediums, including television, in person prompts such as in transport hubs and shop windows and on social media.
These campaigns have been running since summer 2020. Social media content and press coverage, especially regarding people with disabilities or health conditions, has been promoted throughout, as well as in line with events such as the International Day of People with Disabilities on 3 December.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government will bring forward proposals for the (a) reform and (b) funding of adult social care.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Reform of adult social care is a complex area and a range of options are being considered.
The Government is committed to sustainable improvement of the adult social care system and will bring forward proposals this year.
As announced in the 2020 Spending Review, the Government is providing local authorities with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021/22. This includes £300 million of new grant funding for social care, on top of the £1 billion social care grant introduced in 2020/21.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to update the minimum income guarantee allowance for people receiving care in non-care home settings.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The minimum income guarantee allowance is reviewed on an annual basis. The next review of the allowance is due in January 2022.
Asked by: Bambos Charalambous (Labour - Enfield, Southgate)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of prioritising the covid-19 vaccine for full time unpaid carers of elderly relatives or those who are shielding.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI have advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.
Those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination in priority group six. This includes unpaid carers.