Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure there is a sufficient supply of flu vaccinations for elderly and clinically vulnerable citizens.
General practitioners and community pharmacists are responsible for ordering flu vaccine to deliver the national flu programme to adults, including the elderly and clinically vulnerable. We have issued guidance asking all providers to order sufficient vaccine to at least equal the levels of uptake achieved in 2020/21. The Department is also in regular contact with vaccine manufacturers to ensure there are sufficient amounts of flu vaccines available in the system to vaccinate eligible cohorts.