Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, following the decision by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation that family members of, and carers for, people in the clinical risk groups are not recommended to receive COVID-19 booster vaccinations, what steps they are taking to protect people in clinical risk groups from contracting COVID-19.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement titled ‘Approach to Managing Covid-19’ on 30 March 2023, in 2023/24 the Government will maintain a range of capabilities to protect those at higher risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Given the continued effectiveness of vaccines and improved treatments, for most people there is a much lower risk of severe illness compared to earlier in the pandemic.

We will therefore continue to encourage people to take up the vaccines to which they are entitled, and we will continue to fund and provide COVID-19 testing, to manage outbreaks in some high-risk settings and to enable access to treatments for those who are eligible. We will also maintain essential COVID-19 surveillance activities in the community, primary and secondary care, and in high-risk settings. Additionally, we will retain proportionate capability for testing in the event of a COVID-19 wave or variant that results in a significant increase in pressure on the National Health Service.

Vaccination does not significantly limit transmission, so there is no strong reason to prioritise vaccination for carers of those who are at high risk of severe illness.