Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to further reduce from eight weeks the length of time between the first and second dose of the covid-19 vaccine due to increasing rates of infection.

Currently, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends an interval of eight weeks between doses of all the available COVID-19 vaccines.

It should be noted that current evidence shows that a longer dose interval produces a better immune response. As such, the JCVI has advised against reducing the dose interval further in order to maximise the effectiveness of the vaccination programme. The JCVI regularly reviews its advice in relation to COVID-19 vaccination programme, taking into account new data and evidence on the effectiveness of the programme and epidemiological situation.