Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the coverage rates and impact on hospitalisations of the maternal vaccination programme for respiratory syncytial virus; and what steps are being taken to improve them.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) monitors trends in vaccine coverage. Trends in maternal respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine uptake are published on the GOV.UK website.

The UKHSA also undertakes monitoring and evaluation of immunisation programmes, including the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing hospital admissions. Monitoring and evaluation work has begun for the new RSV programmes which launched in September 2024. The maternal programme will be assessed once sufficient data is available.

NHS England has been working with systems, stakeholders, and partners to increase awareness and uptake of the RSV vaccine amongst pregnant women, since the launch of the vaccine on 1 September 2024. NHS England continues to share resources and information with maternity leads, and maternity services commissioned to deliver the RSV programme are encouraged to have vaccination discussions with pregnant women early in pregnancy, so there are multiple contacts along the pregnancy pathway with health care professionals for vaccination promotion and discussion.