Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether coeliac disease is an eligible condition for children to receive the covid-19 vaccination; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure that children's eligibility for that vaccination is decided consistently across GP practices.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advises that asplenia or dysfunction of the spleen constitutes a risk group for the purpose of COVID-19 vaccination of children. Hyposplenism or reduced spleen function in coeliac disease is uncommon in children and the prevalence correlates with the duration of exposure to gluten. Therefore, children diagnosed with coeliac disease early in life whose condition is well managed are unlikely to require vaccination.

Clinical judgment should be applied in identifying these children on a case by case basis.