Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including carers in the eligibility criteria for the Spring 2024 Covid Vaccination Programme.

The Government remains committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). On 7 February 2024, the JCVI published further advice on the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination programme. The JCVI advice is that a COVID-19 vaccine should be offered in spring 2024 to those at greatest risk of serious disease, and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination. Those eligible are: adults aged 75 years old and over; residents in a care home for older adults; and individuals aged six months old and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in chapter 14a of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book. The JCVI’s advice for spring 2024, including the approach to eligibility, is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-spring-2024-and-future-vaccination-programmes-jcvi-advice-4-december-2023/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-spring-2024-and-considerations-on-future-covid-19-vaccination-4-december-2023.

The Government has accepted this advice, and the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme is now in progress. The spring programme is targeted to those at highest risk of serious outcomes from COVID-19. Whilst carers as a group are therefore not recommended for vaccination in this programme, any carer who falls within one of the above cohorts will be eligible. Everyone who is eligible is encouraged to take up the offer of spring COVID-19 vaccination.