Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what priorities they have adopted for the COVID-19 vaccination programme from autumn 2022 to spring 2023.

The Government continues to be guided by the advice of the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding the deployment of COVID-19 vaccinations across the UK. On 19 May 2022, the JCVI published interim advice on an autumn COVID-19 vaccination booster programme. The primary objective of the programme is to offer protection against severe COVID-19 disease, specifically hospitalisation and death.

The interim advice from the JCVI is that an additional COVID-19 booster vaccine should be offered in autumn 2022 to residents in a care home for older adults and staff; frontline health and social care workers; all those aged 65 years old and over; and adults aged 16-64 years old who are in a clinical risk group.

The JCVI continues to review the definitions of clinical risk groups and the need for any further COVID-19 vaccination of other patient groups. Further information on the number of people eligible for the autumn COVID-19 booster programme will be subject to the final advice from the JCVI, which is expected autumn 2022.