Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government under what circumstances they would consider reintroducing the 50-to-64-year-old age cohort into the flu vaccine programme, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Government’s policy on groups eligible for flu vaccination is based on the recommendation of the independent expert body the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the JCVI was supportive of the temporary expansion of the influenza programme to extend eligibility to all adults aged between 50 and 64 years of age to protect the population from the potential threat of co-circulation of COVID-19 and flu and alleviate pressure on the National Health Service. This was the policy for both the 2020 to 2021 and 2021 to 2022 seasons.

The success of the COVID-19 vaccination programme and a better understanding of SARS-CoV-2 infection means that we are now able to return eligibility for the flu vaccination programme back to the approach taken pre-pandemic.