Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to tackle vaccine hesitancy amongst homeless people.

On 11 March, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that local teams should consider a universal offer to adults experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping alongside those in priority group six. They advised that they should be offered the vaccine without the need for a National Health Service number or general practitioner registration.

Work is being undertaken to update our operational guidance on reaching rough sleepers and homeless people based on the JCVI’s most recent advice. The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government is working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to support outreach services and further work is being done to explore the availability of effective on-street models which could be used to support this work.