Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 8th February 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the (a) scientific evidence and (b) his rationale for his Department's policy to extend the gap between covid-19 vaccine doses to 12 weeks.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 16th February 2021

Estimates of efficacy of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines and the rationale for the advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation is available in the statement published on 31 December which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose-jcvi-statement/optimising-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-maximum-short-term-impact

Further supporting data has since been published on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which indicate high vaccine efficacy from the first dose of vaccine and better immune responses from the second dose with an extended schedule of up to 12 weeks. Data indicates protection from the first dose is maintained over a twelve-week period. This information is available at the following link:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3777268

The United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers wrote to the medical profession regarding the COVID-19 vaccination programmes, stating that setting out a model where vaccinating twice the number of people in the next two to three months provides greater public health protection. The letter is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/letter-to-the-profession-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-on-the-uk-covid-19-vaccination-programmes/letter-to-the-profession-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-regarding-the-uk-covid-19-vaccination-programmes

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