Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to study the effect of COVID-19 booster vaccines on immunocompromised groups.

As part of the National Core Studies Immunity Programme (NCSi), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is providing initial funding of £1.8 million for 12 months towards the OCTAVE study. The OCTAVE study will examine the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in clinically at-risk groups and will help to inform planning for the booster programme. This includes COVID-19 vaccine responses in patients with certain immunosuppressed conditions, including those with inflammatory disorders, high risk cancer patient groups and patients with severe kidney and liver disease.

Studies into the specific effect of a COVID-19 booster vaccine on certain groups have not yet been established. However, UKRI is providing £3 million towards a new research call to support projects examining one or both of the following areas - the nature and quality of COVID-19 vaccine responses, the mechanisms of immune failure that lead to either COVID-19 re-infection or vaccine breakthrough.