Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department made of the impact of not including unpaid carers in the autumn covid-19 booster programme on (a) those carers and (b) the people they care for.

The Joint Committee on Vaccines and Immunisation (JCVI) provides the Government with independent advice on COVID-19 vaccinations, based on its risk assessment. The JCVI’s interim advice on autumn booster vaccinations allows the National Health Service, care homes and other health services to undertake operational planning. The JCVI will provide its final advice on the appropriate patient cohorts for the autumn programme in due course.