Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the (a) development and (b) future rollout of a Group B Streptococcus vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has identified that maternal vaccine products to protect infants against group B streptococcus (GBS) are currently in development. A sub-committee of the JCVI will be stood up to evaluate the benefits of a GBS vaccination programme.

Should a GBS vaccine be approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the JCVI would review evidence on the safety, efficacy, impact, and cost-effectiveness of a potential vaccination programme. Based on this evidence, the JCVI would provide advice to the Department in order to develop a vaccination policy and decide on any potential future roll out in England.