Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government which data sets were used to compile the lists of those eligible for COVID-19 booster vaccines in England; and who is responsible for (1) managing, and (2) updating, the lists of those who are vulnerable.

The Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation has advised that boosters are offered to individuals who received vaccination in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme and the Government has accepted this advice. This includes those aged 50 years old and over and those aged 16 to 49 years old with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe COVID-19,

For age-based cohorts, NHS Digital holds demographic information regarding English citizens and their dates of birth. NHS Digital identify those who fall into an age-based booster cohort. NHS Digital manage and update this information. Where a person is included due to a clinical condition, general practitioners (GPs) are ultimately responsible for diagnosing people that have those conditions. NHS Digital receive notifications from GP systems to include patients in the ‘at risk’ cohort and are then responsible for managing and updating this information as it is received.