Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to evolve the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation's methods to assess the broader socio-economic benefits of vaccination.

As an independent Departmental Expert Committee, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises the Department on matters related to vaccination and immunisation. The JCVI bases its advice and recommendations on evidence of the burden of disease, of vaccine safety and efficacy, and of the impact and cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies.

Broader socio-economic factors, such as productivity costs from illness, improved educational attainment from reduced school absences, and out-of-pocket expenses and opportunity costs from attending a vaccination, are not included in the cost-effective analysis which is presented to the JCVI for its consideration. However, these impacts may be highlighted by the JCVI to inform policy-making.