Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allow patients who received two covid-19 AstraZeneca vaccinations and who are concerned about mRNA vaccines to choose to have an RPV vaccine, including a further AstraZeneca vaccination, as a booster.

Data from the COV-BOOST trial indicate that booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines are generally well tolerated and provide a substantial increase in vaccine-induced immune responses. In particular, mRNA vaccines provide a strong booster effect, regardless of whether the primary course was with the Pfizer/BioNTech or the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation has advised that those eligible for the COVID-19 booster vaccine should be offered a booster dose of either the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or the Moderna vaccine. Where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered, vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine may be considered for those who received that vaccine in the primary course.