Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with (a) invasive pneumococcal disease and (b) other underlying health conditions receive their flu vaccination in addition to their covid-19 booster vaccination.

National guidance on influenza vaccination recommends that if an individual is acutely unwell, immunisation may be postponed until they have fully recovered. Patients unwell with invasive pneumococcal disease would typically have any influenza vaccine that they were due to receive deferred until recovery. Those considered to be in risk groups for invasive pneumococcal disease may also be eligible for a flu vaccine.

To encourage uptake, NHS England and NHS Improvement have recommissioned the national call and recall service for the 2021/22 season. This service will complement local mechanisms to target groups of eligible individuals, informing them of their eligibility and inviting them to make an appointment for their flu vaccination.

The ‘Boost Your Immunity This Winter’ campaign launched in October included targeted communications for those with underlying health conditions to raise awareness of the risks of flu and COVID-19 and their eligibility for the vaccinations as the best protection from serious illness.