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 relative benefits of administering covid-19 vaccinations via aspiration compared to intravenous injection.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not made this assessment. The UKHSA provides guidance on immunisation techniques in Chapter Four of the Green Book, which follows available evidence and international recommendations for the administration of vaccines. This is reviewed and updated regularly by the UKHSA and states that it is not necessary to aspirate the syringe after the needle is introduced into the muscle because there are no large blood vessels at the recommended injection sites.

In addition, the only licensed route of administration for COVID-19 vaccines is via intra-muscular injection into the preferred site, the deltoid muscle. No assessment has therefore been made for intravenous injection. Vaccinations are not administered into the vein as this would be potentially harmful.