Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what referrals concerning pneumococcal disease the Secretary of State for Health has made to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation in the last five years; and on what dates those were made.

The Secretary of State has not requested a recommendation about immunisation against pneumococcal disease from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) under the terms of the Health Protection (Vaccination) Regulations 2009 in the last five years.

Departmental officials requested advice from the JCVI in early 2014 about the use of pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). At its meeting on 4 June 2014, the minutes of which are available on GOV.UK, the JCVI concluded that PCV13 should remain the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine of choice for infants in the United Kingdom at this time. We have accepted this advice.