Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps, if any, they are taking to combat vaccine hesitancy.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) undertakes research to understand how people experience vaccine services, their knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes towards immunisation, vaccine safety, and disease severity, and how these may influence vaccine uptake decision-making. This evidence helps to assess public confidence in national vaccination programmes, guide programme management, and support the creation of vaccine information materials in multiple languages and accessible formats.

The Government is committed to having high uptake in all vaccination programmes and has an established independent scientific advisory group, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which is responsible for advising United Kingdom health departments on immunisations for the prevention of infections and/or disease.

The UKHSA has also established a forum bringing together the four UK nations together to review factors impacting uptake, to identify actions and shared learning to improve access to services, and to address other potential barriers.