Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the efficacy of covid-19 vaccines for recipients of solid organ transplants.

Public Health England has been monitoring the effectiveness of vaccinations in clinical risk groups with immunosuppression, which includes recipients of solid organ transplants. From the evaluation of the vaccine programme, the data shows that completion of the two dose schedule correlates well with protection from both disease and severe outcomes, including hospitalisation and death.

Virus Watch, supported by the UK Research and Innovation and National Institute for Health Research COVID-19 Rapid Response initiative and NHS Test and Trace, provided information regarding patients’ antibodies and included immunocompromised patients as part of their cohort. This suggests some protection against COVID-19 but is only one measure of protection and excludes cellular immunity.