Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will take steps with Public Health England to ensure all school staff are vaccinated as soon as possible to enable schools to be reopened.

Receiving face-to-face education is best for children’s mental health and for their educational achievement. The Department will continue to review the restrictions on schools, colleges and universities, and will ensure that children and young people return to face-to-face education as soon as possible.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them.

JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems. As the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.

Regarding the next phase of vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department of Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other Government departments. The Department will input into this cross governmental exercise.