Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October to Question 9121, on Respiratory Syncytial Virus: Vaccination, when he expects to receive further advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the potential merits of extending eligibility for that vaccine to people who turned 80 before 01 September 2024.

In the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s (JCVI) statement summarising the advice for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) programme, the committee stated that an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about protection provided by the vaccination in the very elderly, and evidence of the real-world impact of the programme in the 75 up to 80-year-old cohort.

The JCVI will continue to keep its advice under review and any potential changes to its advice for the RSV programme, and the timing for it, will be guided by having the necessary scientific evidence with which to do so. The JCVI has continued to review the RSV programme, including at their main meeting on 2 October 2024, but is currently unable to provide an estimate of when suitable evidence will be available to inform future advice. Any potential forthcoming advice on the potential merits of extending eligibility for the RSV programme for older adults will be carefully considered by the Government.