Oral Answers to Questions

Maggie Throup Excerpts

Tuesday 23rd November 2021 Commons Chamber

[Jane Hunt (Loughborough) (Con)]

8. What steps his Department is taking to roll out the covid-19 vaccination to 12 to 15-year-olds.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maggie Throup)]

We have vaccinated more than 1.1 million 12 to 15-year-olds since roll-out began. Vaccine clinics have been held at around 3,500 schools, with 800 more to be visited next week, and there are more than 240 out-of-school vaccine sites in operation. To bolster the roll-out, since 22 October vaccination bookings for any 12 to 15-year-old in England can be made through the national booking service to attend a vaccination site outside school hours. I take this opportunity to thank everybody involved in making this programme so successful.

[Jane Hunt]

Humphrey Perkins School in my constituency had carried out all the necessary preparations ahead of its anticipated roll-out of the vaccine prior to the autumn half-term, but on the day before, it was informed that the roll-out would be postponed until 30 November. Please could my hon. Friend set out the reasons for this delay, and can she confirm that this date will not be pushed back again as this could have an impact on transmission between local adults, among whom cases have increased recently?

[Maggie Throup]

In late September, the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust school age immunisation service devised an updated schedule for covid-19 and flu vaccinations comprising the remaining schools to be visited. This was to address some operational challenges, reduce the need to postpone sessions at short notice and offer the best experience to the young people receiving vaccinations. All affected schools were notified as soon as possible. As my hon. Friend said, the service will be attending Humphrey Perkins on 30 November, when eligible students with consent will be offered both the flu and the covid-19 vaccines. West Leicestershire clinical commissioning group has confirmed to me that this date will not be moved.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

Wales has now joined Scotland in having vaccinated more than half of all 12 to 15-year-olds, Scotland’s figure being 57.7% in comparison with England’s 36.3% of eligible pupils. Given that 10 to 19-year-olds have maintained the highest rate of infections in recent months, what steps are the UK Government going to take to follow Scotland’s lead and improve vaccination further in this age group?

[Maggie Throup]

As I said earlier, we have already vaccinated over 1.1 million 12 to 15-year-olds since the roll-out began, which to me is a huge success. We have opened up the national booking service, and provided more opportunities for youngsters to come forward whether within the school environment or outside the school environment. We always look at every opportunity to ensure complete accessibility for people to get their vaccine.

[Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con)]

9. What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of carers in the adult social care sector.

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[Chris Loder (West Dorset) (Con)]

11. What steps he is taking to ensure booster doses of the covid-19 vaccine are available to all eligible people in West Dorset.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maggie Throup)]

We have delivered more than 15.3 million booster doses in the UK, and we know there is a strong demand for boosters in Dorset. The NHS has worked hard to deliver boosters and third doses at all 18 primary care networks in Dorset, providing them across a number of sites. Additional provisions are also in place for those who are housebound, elderly, or in care, to ensure that they get their booster.

[Chris Loder]

I thank my hon. Friend for her answer. Almost a third of constituents in West Dorset are over the age of 65. While I welcome very much the Secretary of State’s announcement this week that he is rolling out the booster to those over the age of 40, I am afraid that, in the county town of Dorchester and the second town of Bridport particularly, it is still very difficult for the elderly to receive their vaccine boosters. Will my hon. Friend help urgently with sorting this issue by arranging walk-in centres so that we might address it rapidly?

[Maggie Throup]

The Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS keep the covid-19 vaccine programme under constant review in order to ensure that there is sufficient capacity across the country. There are more vaccination sites than ever before in England, including hundreds of walk-in centres. A lot of planning goes into ensuring that those sites are distributed to meet the level of demand, and there are measures in place to ensure that boosters are accessible for all in West Dorset, but I will look into this matter further on behalf of my hon. Friend.

[Ben Everitt (Milton Keynes North) (Con)]

12. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the roll-out of booster doses of the covid-19 vaccine.