Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 20th January 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to prioritise crematorium and funeral workers for receipt of a COVID-19 vaccination.


Answered by
Lord Bethell Portrait
Lord Bethell
This question was answered on 8th March 2021

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level. The JCVI identified that the vaccination of frontline healthcare workers should be a priority for the COVID-19 vaccination programme. Frontline staff are at high risk of acquiring COVID-19 infection but also of transmitting that infection to multiple persons who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 as well as to other staff in a healthcare environment.

Crematorium operations may involve handling the deceased and therefore present a risk of exposure to COVID-19. However, these functions do not necessitate entering or accessing a healthcare setting so there is a low risk of transmitting infection to multiple vulnerable persons or other staff in a healthcare environment.

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