Asked by: Paul Davies (Labour - Colne Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to implement the targeted roll-out of the Gonorrhoea vaccine.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In November 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) issued advice on standing up a targeted, routine vaccination programme for protection against gonorrhoea.
Officials across the Department, the UK Health Security Agency and NHS England have been developing options based on the JCVI advice, assessing all the relevant factors to ensure that the United Kingdom’s high standards for world-leading vaccination programmes are maintained, and the best value for money for taxpayers is delivered. A decision on a vaccination programme for the prevention of gonorrhoea is expected shortly, following the outcome of this process.
NHS England will work with partners across national, regional, and local levels to ensure that plans for any new vaccination programme will meet local need, ensure equity of access and support a high level of uptake of the vaccination offer by those who are eligible.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to ensure the RSV vaccine is free of charge for people over 80.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with independent expert advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccination programmes were introduced in England in September 2024 to protect infants, via maternal vaccination, and older adults at the greatest risk of harm from RSV infection. The routine RSV programme for older adults offers vaccination to those turning 75 years old on or after 1 September 2024, alongside a catch-up programme to vaccinate those aged between 75 and 79 years old on 1 September 2024. These individuals will remain eligible until the day before their 80th birthday, except for people who turn 80 years old in the first year, who have until 31 August 2025 to get vaccinated.
When advising on the introduction of the RSV programmes, the JCVI said that an extension to the initial programmes would be considered when there was more certainty about protection for patients at higher risk of severe illness from RSV, including people aged 80 years old and older, and the real-world impact of the programme for 75 to 80 year olds.
At its October 2024 main committee meeting, the JCVI agreed that it would need to formally review the evidence for a potential extension to the programme for people aged 80 years old and older, and for those in clinical risk groups. During the main committee meeting of 5 February 2025, the JCVI noted that it planned further discussions on potential advice towards extending the programme to those over 80 years of age. The minutes from JCVI meetings are publicly available online, at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation.
The JCVI will continue to review the necessary scientific evidence once it is available, and the Department will consider any further JCVI advice on who should be offered an RSV vaccine in due course.
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to return HPV vaccination rates to pre-2020 levels.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with several organisations to develop resources to raise awareness of the human papilloma virus (HPV). The UKHSA also publishes annual statistics, which are available at the following link:
These publications support local National Health Service teams in developing plans to improve uptake and reduce inequalities for the HPV universal programme. The UKHSA produces several HPV resources, which are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hpv-vaccination-programme
The NHS Commissioned School Aged Immunisation Service providers have robust catch-up plans in place for the adolescent HPV vaccination programme. To support increased access and uptake of the HPV vaccination to school aged children, NHS England continues to work with all key stakeholders at a regional level to strengthen local initiatives and encourage innovative models to approach the robust delivery of school aged vaccinations. Further information on the NHS’ ambition to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040 is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2023/11/nhs-sets-ambition-to-eliminate-cervical-cancer-by-2040/
Asked by: Sarah Champion (Labour - Rotherham)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take to (a) return cervical cancer screening rates to pre-2020 levels and (b) meet cervical cancer screening targets.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
To support improving the access and uptake of the NHS Cervical Screening Programme, the National Health Service has a series of initiatives underway, including:
- developing a digital-first approach to cervical screening invitations and reminders, including using the Cervical Screening Management System (CSMS) to create opportunities to communicate with the population differently;
- introducing a revised invitation correspondence, and subsequent reminder letter, in 2025/26, that is sent to 24.5 year olds to specifically highlight the need to attend a cervical screening even if they have had the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination, and to raise awareness of the HPV vaccine catch-up offer for those up to 25 years old;
- using CSMS to enable an opt-in process for transgender and non-binary peoples’ screening invitations to ensure that no-one eligible misses out on the opportunity to be invited and participate;
- expanding the range of accessible public information materials across all screening programmes, and continuing to highlight the importance of screening within our regular equalities-focused communications and engagement;
- developing an agile cervical screening workforce that can respond to fluctuations in demand through workforce planning, accounting for potential future changes to screening offers, which is being directed by the UK National Screening Committee;
- identifying low-cost/no-cost opportunities to communicate the NHS’s aim to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, highlighting the value of cervical screening and the HPV vaccination as fundamental to achieving this goal.
The UK National Screening Committee is also considering the benefits of introducing self-sampling for cervical screening non-attenders.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the level of vaccine uptake is by (a) ethnicity, (b) region and (c) socio-economic group.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This information is not held in the format requested. The total number of mpox vaccinations administered in England in 2023/24 financial year was 21,225. The total number of mpox vaccinations administered in 2024/25 financial year to date currently stands at 15,649. The latest vaccine coverage statistics are available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake
Influenza and COVID-19 coverage data can also be viewed in the weekly flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports, which are available at the following link:
Childhood vaccination coverage statistics in England are available at the following link:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/nhs-immunisation-statistics
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what performance management arrangements were in place, if any, to ensure the take-up of flu and COVID-19 vaccinations by NHS staff in (1) 2022, and (2) 2023.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England plays an important role in supporting the National Health Service to run effective influenza and COVID-19 vaccination programmes for NHS staff.
As part of this, NHS England provides a range of resources and tools to support this offer and is working to increase influenza and COVID-19 vaccination uptake in 2024/25. In addition, improved Federated Data Platform reporting is providing more detailed regional uptake intelligence. NHS England is encouraging integrated care boards to work with the highest performing trusts in their region to share best practice and lessons learned, and provide additional support for those providers where uptake is low.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what performance management arrangements are in place, if any, to ensure the take-up of flu and COVID-19 vaccinations by NHS staff.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England plays an important role in supporting the National Health Service to run effective influenza and COVID-19 vaccination programmes for NHS staff.
As part of this, NHS England provides a range of resources and tools to support this offer and is working to increase influenza and COVID-19 vaccination uptake in 2024/25. In addition, improved Federated Data Platform reporting is providing more detailed regional uptake intelligence. NHS England is encouraging integrated care boards to work with the highest performing trusts in their region to share best practice and lessons learned, and provide additional support for those providers where uptake is low.
Asked by: Rupert Lowe (Independent - Great Yarmouth)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the cost effectiveness of the covid-19 vaccine booster programme, in the context of the findings on the impact of vaccination take-up in care homes on resident mortality in the report by Sourafel Girma and David Paton entitled Using double-debiased machine learning to estimate the impact of Covid-19 vaccination on mortality and staff absences in elderly care homes, published in European Economic Review, Volume 170, November 2024.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The JCVI considers the cost effectiveness of immunisation strategies, alongside a range of data, including epidemiological and vaccine effectiveness data, when formulating its advice. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in 2025 and spring 2026. This advice is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026
The Government is considering this advice carefully and will respond in due course.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to prevent the spread of Mpox.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
There are two distinct types, known as clades, of the Mpox virus, specifically clade I and clade II. The previous significant outbreak in the United Kingdom in 2022 was from clade II. Details of the current National Health Service Mpox vaccination programme are available at the following link:
Clade I is currently classified as a high consequence infectious disease. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has led extensive planning across the Government and the NHS to deal with Mpox cases in the UK, and will coordinate contact tracing and offer testing and vaccination to contacts as needed.
Four cases of clade I Mpox have been detected in the UK, three of which are household contacts of the first case. All four patients are currently under specialist medical care.
In line with the advice of the Advisory Committee for Dangerous Pathogens, the border response for direct flights from affected countries includes pre-arrival health declarations. Digital messaging is displayed on information screens at 10 international airports in England and the Eurostar terminal, and the UKHSA is meeting flights from affected countries and giving health advice leaflets to passengers and crew.
We are placing a strong emphasis on ensuring that there are high levels of awareness among clinicians about the risks and the actions they need to take. The UKHSA Returning Workers Scheme for organisations sending workers to outbreak areas also provides pre-travel advice, active monitoring on return, and medical support for symptomatic returnees when necessary. Pre-travel advice for Mpox is publicly available on TravelHealthPro website, which is available at the following link:
https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/
The risk to the general population of the UK of being exposed to Mpox clade I is currently considered low.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leeds (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to increase infant and child vaccination levels in the north of England.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) works closely with NHS England, the Department and wider health system partners to improve uptake of the routine childhood immunisations and catch-up children who missed out.
UKHSA’s first childhood immunisation communication campaign ran from 4 March until mid-April 2024 and encouraged parents to ensure their child’s vaccinations were up to date which. The current campaign is running from 26 August until 4 October 2024.
UKHSA also provides public facing resources, including information leaflets in multiple languages and accessible formats, for example, easy read, BSL and braille, and clinical guidance, including e-learning programmes and training, for healthcare professionals.
To address inequalities NHS England continues to work with national and local partners to deliver faith-based community health engagement with Orthodox Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, and other communities in areas with low rates of childhood immunisation uptake. This includes promoting health seeking behaviors, such as general practitioner registration, and designing locally led community health events to raise awareness of the benefits of childhood immunisations and challenge misinformation.