Asked by: Lord Framlingham (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to investigate any possible link between COVID-19 vaccinations and increasing numbers of premature deaths from heart and circulatory conditions since 2020.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is no evidence linking excess deaths to the COVID-19 vaccine. Analysis from the Office for National Statistics, published on 25 August 2023, shows that people who died between 1 April 2021 and 31 May 2023 and who had a COVID-19 vaccine, had a lower mortality rate than those who had not been vaccinated.
Each COVID-19 vaccine is only authorised once it has met robust standards of effectiveness, safety and quality set by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). No medicine or vaccine is completely risk-free, but the MHRA continually monitors the safety of the vaccines through a comprehensive vaccine surveillance strategy. This monitoring strategy is proactive and based on a wide range of information sources, with a dedicated team of scientists continually reviewing information to look for safety issues or any unexpected, rare events. Any information indicating a possible new safety concern is thoroughly evaluated, including through a review by the independent expert working group for COVID-19. Updated advice for healthcare professionals and patients is issued where appropriate.
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 23 January 2024 to Question 9963 on Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme: Coronavirus, how many and what proportion of those 163 claimants have received an award in relation to a COVID-19 vaccination specifically.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Of the 163 claims to the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme that received an award between 31 December 2020 and 16 January 2024, 160 or 98% were claims related to COVID-19.
Asked by: Fleur Anderson (Labour - Putney)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many adverse events were registered with covid-19 vaccines from batch number 4120Z001 via the yellow card scheme; and whether more serious adverse events were registered with covid-19 vaccines from batch number 4120Z001 via the yellow card scheme than other batches of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) continuously monitors the safety of vaccines through a variety of pharmacovigilance approaches including the Yellow Card scheme. As part of our signal detection processes all adverse reaction reports received by the Yellow Card scheme are assessed and cumulative information reviewed at regular intervals. Our analysis of the Yellow Card reports accounts for product batch number.
The MHRA has received 7112 spontaneous suspected adverse drug reaction (ADR) reports in the United Kingdom relating to the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine with batch number 4120Z001 up to and including 17 January 2024. Our analysis of the Yellow Card reports including review of serious adverse reactions reported has not resulted in any safety concerns with the batch number 4120Z001 for the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine.
Not all batches of the COVID-19 vaccines are the same size, and some batches may have had more wastage than other batches or be distributed more widely outside of the UK. Therefore, we would not expect the number of ADR reports for all batches to be the same as they have been administered to different numbers of patients. Furthermore, different batches would have been used at different stages of the vaccination campaign, and in different patient groups, which could also impact reporting rates.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on what date the Oxford–AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine Vaxzevria was withdrawn from general public administration in the UK; and for what reason.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
AstraZeneca completed its COVID-19 vaccine supply agreement with the Government in 2022. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme in September 2021, in line with advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, the vaccines deployed in the national programme have primarily been mRNA vaccines that were considered to provide a strong booster response.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason covid-19 vaccines are only available through the NHS as of 31 January 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is committed to protecting those most at risk from COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. Those eligible receive vaccination for free through the National Health Service. Whether and when a private market for COVID-19 vaccines emerges is a matter for private companies, and the Government has no formal role in this. However, the Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines, to increase choice for consumers.
Asked by: Christopher Chope (Conservative - Christchurch)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department takes to ensure no mRNA vaccines are (a) procured and (b) supplied in breach of a patent.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government has signed contracts for the supply of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, under which suppliers are required to warrant that the receipt and use of their vaccines will not infringe on any intellectual property rights.
Asked by: Ben Lake (Plaid Cymru - Ceredigion)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with pharmaceutical companies on making the Covid vaccine commercially available.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is committed to protecting those most at risk from COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Those eligible receive vaccination for free through the National Health Service. Whether and when a private market for COVID-19 vaccines emerges is a matter for private companies, and the Government has no formal role in this. However, the Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines to increase choice for consumers. I have engaged with relevant interested parties who may seek to enter the private market this year, including vaccine manufacturers and pharmacies.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to maintain a vaccine-based immunity in the under-65s given the spread of the JN.1 COVID-19 sub-variant.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a body of independent experts, advises the Government on who should be offered vaccination through the national programme for COVID-19. JCVI advice continues to be aimed at reducing hospitalisation and mortality in those groups which are at higher risk of serious outcomes from the disease.
Throughout the pandemic, older people have been amongst those most likely to experience severe disease if infected by SARS-CoV-2. Existing data on hospital admissions in the United Kingdom is consistent with the clinical risk continuing to be strongly age related, as well as associated with specified existing clinical conditions.
The JCVI view based on the available data is that due to a combination of naturally acquired and vaccine derived immunity in the population, otherwise known as hybrid immunity, COVID-19 is now a relatively mild disease for most people. This is why JCVI advice to date is that the COVID-19 national programme should be targeted to those at higher risk of developing serious COVID-19 disease. More information regarding current eligibility for seasonal vaccination is available in chapter 14a of the Green Book, a copy of which is attached.
The JCVI continues to regularly review the emerging data on COVID-19 for each new campaign they recommend.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to making COVID-19 vaccines available for people to buy privately.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There are no plans to make the COVID-19 vaccines the Government holds for National Health Service use available for purchase. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), a body of independent experts, advises the Government on who should be offered vaccination through the national programme for COVID-19. Vaccination for COVID-19 through the NHS is free for those eligible.
Current COVID-19 vaccines offer good protection against serious outcomes but only short-lived protection from mild symptomatic disease. The aim therefore is to offer vaccination to those the JCVI advises are at higher risk of hospitalisation and death. This risk is strongly linked to older age and some specified clinical conditions.
All vaccines that have been licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency for use in the United Kingdom may be prescribed by physicians privately as well as through the NHS. Currently COVID-19 vaccines are not available privately but as is the case for many other vaccines, manufacturers and providers are able to set up a private market alongside the NHS offer when they consider this viable and appropriate. The Government is supportive of the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines. Supply of vaccines for such a market would be, as with all other vaccines, a matter for the private providers working with manufacturers to obtain through the open market.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to ensure people diagnosed as medically vulnerable can access covid-19 vaccination regardless of the medication they are taking.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The primary aim of the COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe disease, including hospitalisation and death, arising from COVID-19. The risk of developing severe COVID-19 continues to be strongly associated with increasing age and underlying health conditions.
In line with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation advice accepted by the Government, the offer of vaccination is therefore focused on those at greatest risk. In autumn 2023, this included all adults aged 65 years old and over and those aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, as defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s Green Book on immunisation.
This offer was open to all eligible individuals regardless of medication status. Clinicians can advise on individual circumstances, and anyone concerned should seek relevant advice.