Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure people access annual annual vaccinations for (a) flu and (b) covid-19.

Each year the Department put in plans to ensure those who are eligible get vaccinated for flu. These plans are set out in the annual flu letter published jointly by the Department, Public Health England, NHS England and NHS Improvement each spring.

It is too early to say if the COVID-19 vaccine will become an annual programme. Vaccine effectiveness will be monitored in different population groups to understand how the effectiveness varies by age, presence of other medical conditions and other factors. Our surveillance systems will remain in place for the long term to monitor how long protection lasts to inform the need for booster doses.