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: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the national supply disruption problems of the most used ADHD medications have been resolved, and if not, what are the causes and when they expect the supply to return to acceptable levels.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the respective manufacturers and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some other medicines, which should resolve by April 2024.
We have well-established processes to manage supply issues and continue to work with the respective manufacturers and all relevant stakeholders to ensure that the supply disruptions are resolved as soon as possible.
We understand how frustrating and distressing medicine shortages can be and we want to assure patients that we are working with the respective manufacturers to resolve the issues with ADHD medicine supply in the United Kingdom as soon as possible and to help ensure patients are able to access these medicines in the short and long term.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure young people have timely access to mental health services.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the NHS Long Term Plan, we are investing an additional £2.3 billion per year by March 2024 to enable an extra two million people in England, including 345,000 children and young people, to access National Health Service-funded mental health support.
We also provided an additional £500 million for 2021/22, targeting those groups whose mental health has been most affected by the pandemic, including children and young people. Within the £500 million, £79 million was invested to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community health services, 2,000 more to access eating disorder services and a faster increase in the coverage of mental health support teams in schools and colleges. £13 million was invested to ensure young adults aged 18 to 25, including university students, were supported with tailored mental health support, helping bridge the gap between children’s and adult services.
In February, NHS England published the outcomes of its consultation on the potential to introduce five new access and waiting time standards for mental health services, including that children and young people should start to receive care within four weeks from referral, as part of its clinically led review of National Health Service access standards. We are now working with NHS England on the next steps.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure accurate and timely monitoring of (1) new COVID-19 cases, and (2) new variants of the disease; and when the next round of booster vaccines will be made available to each age group.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) conducts routine monitoring and surveillance of COVID-19 and the emergence and spread of new variants internationally via a range of surveillance systems and genomic capabilities. These systems report on infection rates, hospitalisations and the risks posed by new variants.
This year’s autumn influenza and COVID-19 vaccine programmes is starting earlier than planned in England, on 11 September 2023, as a precautionary measure. Speeding up the Autumn vaccine programme will deliver greater protection, supporting those at greatest risk of severe illness and reducing the potential impact on the National Health Service.
The COVID-19 vaccine will be offered to:
- residents in a care home for older adults;
- all adults aged 65 years and over;
- persons aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group;
- frontline health and social care workers;
- persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression; and
- persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers and staff working in care homes for older adults.
An appointment will be offered to eligible people between September and December 2023, with those at highest risk being called in first. Those eligible for vaccination are encouraged to take up the offer of the vaccine as soon as they are called to ensure they head into winter with the best protection.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reported increase in vaping and vaping-related health conditions among young people.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Recent NHS Digital data suggests there has been an increase in young people aged 19 years old and under with a finished admission episode with a primary or secondary diagnosis of a vaping disorder. There were 40 reported cases in 2022/23, seven more than in 2021/22.
The Government is taking a number of steps to prevent the circulation of illegal vaping products. In April 2023, we announced £3 million of funding to support a new illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle underage sales and the illicit market. National Trading Standards have now begun setting up the operation, gathering intelligence, training staff and bolstering capacity and will begin field work later this year.
Asked by: Earl Russell (Liberal Democrat - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they plan to take to prevent the circulation of illegal vaping products particularly among young people.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Recent NHS Digital data suggests there has been an increase in young people aged 19 years old and under with a finished admission episode with a primary or secondary diagnosis of a vaping disorder. There were 40 reported cases in 2022/23, seven more than in 2021/22.
The Government is taking a number of steps to prevent the circulation of illegal vaping products. In April 2023, we announced £3 million of funding to support a new illicit vapes enforcement squad to tackle underage sales and the illicit market. National Trading Standards have now begun setting up the operation, gathering intelligence, training staff and bolstering capacity and will begin field work later this year.