Covid-19 Update

Lilian Greenwood Excerpts

Wednesday 30th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Matt Hancock]

Yes, absolutely. My hon. Friend is kind in what he says, and I am grateful for his support for the approach that we have taken throughout the pandemic—I really appreciate it. As he says, it is precisely in order to save lives that we have taken the actions that we have. It has been harder to get the Pfizer jab to the smaller care homes because of the minus 70° storage requirements. That is much easier with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and today the NHS has written to GPs who are running the vaccines programme to stress the importance of getting the vaccine to care home residents and staff as soon as possible.

[Lilian Greenwood (Nottingham South) (Lab) [V]]

The news of the Oxford vaccine is welcome, but from tomorrow my constituents will face further difficult tier 4 restrictions. We cannot allow a choice between saving lives and saving livelihoods, so will the Government act to close the gaps in support that have left two in five people who rely on self-employed income excluded from the current support schemes?

[Matt Hancock]

The hon. Lady’s question is one for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who has done more than almost any Finance Minister in the world to support people—whether in employment or self-employed—with some of the most generous schemes that have ever been put together. We appreciate that it is not possible to save every job, but we have done the most that we possibly can. I will make sure that someone from the Treasury gets back to the hon. Lady with a clear answer.