Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Dame Kate Bingham's experience, as set out in The Long Shot, of leading the Vaccine Task Force during the COVID-19 pandemic; and whether they intend to review the processes and systems of supervision and governance in respect of projects commissioned by His Majesty's Government.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
No assessment has been made of The Long Shot. The Government has published a review of the Vaccine Task Force’s performance. The review draws out learning that can be applied to future government programmes, both in emergency circumstances, and to business-as-usual activity.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the (a) availability and (b) supply levels of covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The United Kingdom has sufficient supply of vaccines to meet the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advice for the current 2023 autumn booster campaign and for anticipated campaigns in 2024. All vaccines used in the UK to date are effective at protecting against severe disease from current COVID-19 variants.
There is regular contact between the UK Health Security Agency and vaccine manufacturers to ensure the future supply of vaccines to the UK. Advice on eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines and the choice of vaccine products for future campaigns is provided by the JCVI.
All those eligible for a COVID-19 booster as part of the current vaccination campaign and who are yet to come forward are strongly encouraged to do so.
Asked by: Rosena Allin-Khan (Labour - Tooting)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to promote the uptake of Covid-19 booster vaccinations.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
Throughout autumn and winter, the Government and the National Health Service are encouraging those that are eligible to take up the Influenza (flu) and COVID-19 vaccination offer. A range of communications are in place to ensure those eligible are aware of the offer. This includes:
- NHS England’s national call/recall programme which coordinates mail and text message prompts to those eligible; in addition to communications from general practices and pharmacies;
- an extensive public information, media and external affairs communications programme;
- a paid Winter Vaccinations campaign ‘Get vaccinated. Get winter strong’, which launched on 1 November 2023 and is running up to 17 December 2023 across a range of broadcast and digital channels supported by audience tailored activity;
- a health and social care workforce communications programme; and
- provision by NHS England of financial arrangements to encourage providers to accelerate take up of both vaccines.
Asked by: Mike Penning (Conservative - Hemel Hempstead)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing GPs to prescribe a covid-19 booster vaccination to vulnerable patients not specifically listed as being in a clinical risk group.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises Government health departments on immunisations and the prevention of infectious disease. On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered vaccination in autumn 2023. This includes residents and staff in a care home for older adults, all adults aged 65 years old and over, persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, frontline health and social care workers, persons aged 12 to 64 years old who are household contacts and persons aged 16 to 64 years old who are carers.
The clinical risk groups for COVID-19 vaccination are defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s ‘Green Book’ on vaccines and immunisation Chapter 14a tables 3 and 4. However, as stated in the Green Book, the examples of eligible conditions in these tables are not exhaustive. Within these broad groups, the prescriber may need to apply clinical judgment to consider the risk of COVID-19 exacerbating any underlying condition that a patient may have, as well as the risk of serious illness from COVID-19 itself. The fact that an individual condition is not explicitly cited in the Green Book should therefore not prevent vaccination being offered where clinically appropriate.
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, whether he has plans to expand the eligibility criteria for the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine; and what guidance his Department has issued on the additional protection provided by additional doses and any related health implications.
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 continues to be the prevention of severe disease, namely hospitalisation and death, arising from COVID-19. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has recommended a targeted approach to COVID-19 vaccination focussed on those most vulnerable from COVID-19, including older individuals and individuals with specified existing clinical conditions.
On 8 August 2023, the Government accepted advice from the JCVI on who should be offered a COVID-19 vaccine in the autumn 2023 booster programme. This includes residents in a care home for older adults, all adults aged 65 years old and over, persons aged six months to 64 years old in a clinical risk group, frontline health and social care workers, persons aged 12 to 64 years old who are household contacts and persons aged 16 to 64 years old who are carers. For the autumn 2023 campaign, the JCVI have advised the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA monovalent XBB vaccine for use in individuals from six months old and the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA (Comirnaty) bivalent Original/Omicron BA.4-5 vaccine for use in individuals aged 12 years old and over. All individuals who are currently eligible for COVID-19 vaccination are therefore eligible to receive a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. There are no plans to expand the eligibility criteria for the autumn campaign. The JCVI will continue to review evidence and will provide further advice regarding future vaccination programmes in due course.
The JCVI has advised that further vaccination doses provide additional protection from serious outcomes from COVID-19. Whilst natural immunity alone provides good levels of protection against severe COVID-19, the combination of natural and vaccine-induced immunity, also known as hybrid immunity, is associated with even higher levels of protection.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to roll out COVID-19 vaccines for (1) different age categories, (2) and other vulnerable groups, in 2024; and what are the planned schedules for each group.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to make COVID-19 vaccines available for children in 2024.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Lord Weir of Ballyholme (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what COVID-19 vaccine availability there will be for private health care for groups such as (1) children, and (2) other categories not specifically prioritised for government roll out, in 2024.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
It has not proved possible to respond to this question in the time available before Prorogation. Ministers will correspond directly with the Member.
Asked by: Andrew Bridgen (Independent - North West Leicestershire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) trials and (b) tests were conducted to ensure the (i) safety and (ii) efficiency of mixing and matching covid-19 vaccines and boosters from different manufacturers; and when those trials and tests were conducted.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government-funded, world-first studies on the safety and efficacy of interchanging different COVID-19 vaccines include the Com-COV1, Com-COV2 and Com-COV3 studies led by the University of Oxford, and the COV-Boost study led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust. Com-COV1 was launched in February 2021 and completed in June 2022. Com-COV2 was launched in April 2021 and is still ongoing. Com-COV3 was launched in January 2022 and is still ongoing. COV-Boost was launched in May 2021 and completed in April 2023. More information on these studies is available at the following links:
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov1
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov2
https://comcovstudy.web.ox.ac.uk/about-com-cov3
https://covboost.web.ox.ac.uk/about
All these studies have found interchanging vaccines to be safe and, in some cases, more likely to produce a stronger immune response. These findings have helped to inform the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 vaccination programme as well as vaccine policy around the world. Preliminary data from these studies was shared with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, Vaccine Taskforce and the Department as it became available.
Asked by: Daisy Cooper (Liberal Democrat - St Albans)
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 enable individuals who are not eligible for the autumn 2023 covid booster vaccine to purchase the vaccine.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
The Government is guided by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on eligible cohorts for vaccination. For COVID-19 the JCVI has advised that the objective for the current autumn campaign is to continue to focus the offer of vaccination on those at greatest risk of serious disease and who are therefore most likely to benefit from vaccination.
As is the case for other private healthcare, the emergence of a private market for COVID-19 vaccines in the United Kingdom is for suppliers and private healthcare providers to decide and agree on.