Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, at what stages of the covid-19 vaccination prioritisation process will (a) children’s social care workers and (b) staff in SEN school settings be offered vaccination.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that the first priorities for any COVID-19 vaccination programme should be to reduce COVID-19 mortality and protect the health and social care staff and systems. As a result, they have based their prioritisation largely on age and those with clinical risk factors aged 16 years old and above.

In line with the JCVI’s recommendations, individuals who regularly work with clinically extremely vulnerable individuals or those who have underlying health conditions, should receive the vaccine in line with social care workers. The local authority Director of Adult Social Services should have ultimate responsibility for identifying eligible social care workers, underlined by the principle aim of achieving high rates of vaccination amongst frontline social care workers who work closely and regularly with those who are clinically vulnerable to COVID-19. In addition, if a special school staff member is identified as being in one of the other at-risk cohorts, they will be contacted by the National Health Service at the appropriate time based on the JCVI’s advice.