Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation COVID-19 vaccination programme for 2023: JCVI interim advice, 8 November 2022, what estimate they have made of the number of vaccinations required to prevent a COVID-19 hospital admission for individuals in clinical risk groups, as outlined in the Green Book; and whether they will provide a link to Appendix A of this statement.

The numbers needed to vaccinate (NNV) for the prevention of hospitalisation was calculated to consider the benefits of continued offers of primary vaccination, booster vaccination, the autumn booster and potential boosting in the spring of 2023, for example, for those newly entering a risk group. This calculation estimates the number of people in a particular group who would need to be vaccinated in order to prevent one hospitalisation. The lower the number, the more beneficial vaccination of that group would be.

Strong age effects were seen, as well as large differences within adult ages, by clinical risk group. The oldest age groups and the older individuals in clinical risk groups had the lowest NNV for prevention of hospitalisation. There is also a trend for higher NNV for prevention of hospitalisation when moving from the primary to each booster dose.

The spring 2023 booster is for immunosuppressed people at risk rather than all individuals in a clinical risk group.

The results of NNV by age and clinical risk group are shown in Tables 3b and 4a of Appendix 1, which is attached.

These cover all individuals in a risk group based on analysis of data including the national immunisation register. The NNV has not been broken down into separate clinical risk groups, as outlined in the Green Book.