Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 28 January 2021 to Question 140762, whether retired dentists who cannot re-register are unable to take a patient's medical history, draw up the covid-19 vaccine from vial to syringe and undertake other basic tasks; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the speed of the vaccination programme of retired dentists being able to undertake those tasks.

Giving immunisations is usually a registered activity undertaken by registered healthcare professionals. However, due to the unprecedented scale of the vaccination programme, some tasks can be delegated to suitably trained, unregistered staff working under a National Protocol. An unregistered, retired dentist can apply to be an unregistered vaccinator and be appropriately trained and recertified as being competent to draw up and vaccinate within the COVID-19 vaccination programme.