Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to extend the mpox vaccination programme, in the context of case numbers in London in summer 2023.

In December 2022, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) led the four public health bodies of the United Kingdom in publishing a joint strategy for Mpox control which is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/mpox-monkeypox-control-uk-strategy-2022-to-2023/uk-strategy-for-mpox-control-2022 -to-2023.

This stated the ambition to work towards elimination of person-to-person Mpox transmission in the UK. The strategy made clear that vaccination was one of eight key areas of public health intervention, and that the vaccination programme would continue to be reviewed, drawing on the best available evidence, to ensure it delivers as efficiently as possible to protect those most at risk from Mpox.

The Government remain committed to delivering on this strategy. UKHSA continues to monitor the epidemiology of the Mpox outbreak very closely, including the recent, small cluster of cases in London, and are ready to scale up a response as required.