Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has undertaken an equality impact assessment for the covid-19 autumn vaccination eligibility criteria for households containing clinically extremely vulnerable people.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

In line with JCVI advice, the autumn 2025 programme is focussed on targeted vaccination of those aged 75 years old and over, residents in care homes for older adults, and individuals who are immunosuppressed. These are the groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease, including mortality.

Equality Impact Assessments were undertaken to inform the development of the COVID-19 autumn 2024 and autumn 2025 vaccination campaigns and eligibility criteria.