Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason people who turned 80 before 1 September 2024 are not eligible for the RSV vaccine; and whether exceptions can be made.

The policy for the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) programme is based on the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which is an independent expert advisory committee on vaccination and immunisation. That advice is provided to Government to inform, develop, and make policy.

In the JCVI statement summarising the advice for the RSV programme, the Committee stated that an extension to the initial programme would be considered when there is more certainty about protection provided by the vaccination in the very elderly and evidence of the real-world impact of the programme in the 75 to 80-year-old cohort. The statement is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rsv-immunisation-programme-jcvi-advice-7-june-2023/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv-immunisation-programme-for-infants-and-older-adults-jcvi-full-statement-11-september-2023.

Following an assessment of specific individual clinical situations, a doctor such as a general practitioner or hospital consultant may choose to prescribe vaccines outside of the national programme, under clinical discretion.