Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the definition of frontline health workers prioritised in the covid-19 vaccination programme will include people undertaking non-clinical roles such as hospital cleaners and porters.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI have advised that the first priorities for any COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.

The Committee considers frontline health and social care workers who provide care to vulnerable people a high priority for vaccination. Non-clinical staff in secondary or primary care/community healthcare settings are also included in the definition of front-line health workers. This includes non-clinical ancillary staff who may have social contact with patients but are not directly involved in patient care. This group includes some receptionists, ward clerks, porters and cleaners.