Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the position that coronavirus vaccines and immunizations, including prophylactic antibodies, should be assessed through the JCVI.

No such assessment has been made. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert advisory committee which advises United Kingdom health departments on immunisation. The JCVI’s remit is focused on vaccination rather than antibody treatments and prophylaxis.

The multi-agency RAPID C-19 was established in 2020 to ensure that treatments for COVID-19 are made available safely to National Health Service patients as soon as possible. RAPID C-19 has the relevant expertise in the therapeutic options available and consults experts in an NHS expert working group and the Prophylaxis Oversight Group. The Chief Medical Officer for England has agreed that Evusheld should be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation, which is underway