Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to target people living in fuel poverty for the flu vaccine.

The Department currently have no such plans. The current eligibility criteria are based on the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Adults aged 65 years old and older are eligible for the influenza vaccination. The JCVI does not consider socio-economic factors, but does take into account the clinical risk of severe disease and benefits from vaccination, and assess whether a National Health Service-provided vaccination programme can be considered cost effective. Cost effectiveness takes into account the health benefits of vaccination and the costs to the health service, as well as the savings. It does not take into account the wider societal benefits and costs.