Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent advice he has received on the potential merits of using (a) Vitamin D, (b) Vitamin C and (c) Zinc to help deter or tackle covid-19 infection.

Throughout 2020 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) have considered emerging evidence on vitamin D and COVID-19, and acute respiratory tract infections, respectively. In December 2020, NICE, Public Health England (PHE) and the SACN published a rapid guideline on vitamin D for COVID-19. This concluded that there is currently not enough evidence to support taking vitamin D solely to prevent or treat COVID-19. The guideline is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng187

In 2020, the SACN conducted a rapid scoping exercise on nutrition and immune function in relation to COVID-19, which included consideration of vitamin C and zinc, and found a lack of robust evidence at this current time to suggest that specific nutrients or supplements can prevent individuals from catching COVID-19 or mitigate its effects.

NICE, PHE and the SACN are continuing to monitor evidence as it is published and will review and update guidance if necessary.