Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 6th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on prioritising teachers, school staff and early year practitioners for the covid-19 vaccine.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 18th January 2021

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, as well as frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.

If teachers are captured in phase one due to their age or clinical risk factors then they will be prioritised. However, as advised by the JCVI, we are not considering vaccinating teachers in phase one at this stage. Prioritisation decisions for the next phase of delivery are subject to the surveillance and monitoring of data and information from phase one, as well as further input from independent scientific experts such as the JCVI. Phase two of the roll-out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services, such as teachers.

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