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 publicise the ongoing risk of covid-19 to immunocompromised groups to (a) patients with those conditions and (b) the wider public.

On 6 December we updated the online guidance ‘Coronavirus: how to stay safe and help prevent the spread’, which advises that immunocompromised individuals should take advice from their health professional on whether additional precautions are necessary to minimise their risk of infection.

On 1 September 2021, the Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a third primary dose of vaccine to individuals aged 12 years old and over with severe immunosuppression, as a precautionary measure. A specialist or clinician involved should advise on whether a patient fulfils the eligibility criteria for severe immunosuppression and on the timing of any third primary. NHS England and NHS Improvement have developed tailored communications for specialists caring for each group of eligible patients within the severely immunosuppressed cohort. This includes template referral letters for clinicians to signpost patients appropriately to receive this vaccination.

On 29 November 2021, in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant, the Government accepted advice from JCVI to offer a booster as a fourth dose to severely immunosuppressed individuals who have completed their primary course of three doses. NHS England and NHS Improvement is currently updating its guidance on the vaccination of these patients.

Immunocompromised individuals are also a priority cohort for therapeutic treatments, such as monoclonal antibody therapies and novel antivirals which reduce the risk of hospitalisations and deaths. These novel treatments may be used to treat immune-deficient and immune-suppressed people in the United Kingdom who are at an increased risk of illness and death after contracting COVID-19. We plan to make treatments directly available to the highest risk groups, including those who are immunocompromised.

We will continue to assess the risks posed by COVID-19 and take proportionate measures to protect immunocompromised individuals. We are ensuring that the risks and the measures taken are communicated effectively to those patients affected, their carers, clinicians and representative groups and the wider public.