Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 12th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department is taking to ensure that (a) people with poorly controlled asthma are invited to receive their covid-19 booster jabs on time and (b) the evidence for changes to the vaccine prioritisation list are clearly communicated to asthma sufferers.


Answered by
Maggie Throup Portrait
Maggie Throup
This question was answered on 21st January 2022

Every eligible adult in England has now been offered a COVID-19 booster vaccination, including those with poorly controlled asthma.

On 16 September 2021, the UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book definition of asthma was updated to state that with ‘poorly controlled asthma’ would be eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose. This definition includes individuals who have had two or more courses of oral corticosteroids in the preceding 24 months; or are on maintenance oral corticosteroids; or have had one or more hospital admission(s) for asthma in the preceding 24 months. This followed a systematic review of the evidence on asthma severity, control and COVID-19 hospitalisations by the British Thoracic Society. The British Thoracic Society’s guidance for those with poorly controlled asthma is available at the following link:

https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/covid-19/covid-19-information-for-the-respiratory-community/

On 29 November 2021, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advised that all those aged 18 years old and over, including those with poorly controlled asthma, and those individuals with severe immunosuppression who have had three primary doses are eligible for a booster vaccination from a minimum of three months after completion of their primary course.

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