Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 36 of the policy paper, Building Back Better: Our Plan for Health and Social Care, published in September 2021, how that funding will be allocated between the objectives noted in paragraph 37 on (a) introducing a cap on personal care costs, (b) providing financial assistance to those without substantial assets, (c) delivering wider support for the social care system and (d) improving the integration of health and social care systems.
Answered by Helen Whately - Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
We will set out more detail on our plans for reform of adult social care in a white paper later this year.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the evidential basis is for the decision to change the NHS Covid App’s operational rules to reduce the time period to notify contacts from within five days to within two days of asymptomatic cases testing positive; and what estimate he has been made of the scale of the consequential reduction in notifications from that change.
Answered by Jo Churchill
For people who tested positive for COVID-19 but did not have symptoms, it is difficult to know when the period of infectiousness started. Someone without symptoms may have been tested at any point between the start and end of their period of infectiousness. Advice from Public Health England, taking into account operational, clinical and other factors, is that the highest risk period for contacts is most likely to be two days from the test date, this is in line with standard contact tracing practice. The NHS COVID-19 app has therefore been updated to look back two days from the positive test date for contacts of cases who had no symptoms. This change strikes a balance between protecting public health and reducing potential social and economic disruption. The anonymous nature of the app means it is not possible to robustly calculate what impact this change will have, however we are confident this will significantly reduce the number of low-risk contacts being advised to self-isolate.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the prospect of reaching herd immunity against covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Public Health England has not made an estimate of when herd immunity to COVID-19 will be reached in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria he plans to use to determine (a) whether to implement a booster covid-19 vaccination programme in autumn 2021 and (b) which population groups that programme should cover.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published interim advice on a potential COVID-19 booster vaccination programme on 30th June 2021 which can be found at the following link:
The JCVI’s interim advice is that COVID-19 boosters should first be offered to the most vulnerable. The JCVI advises a two-staged approach, with individuals in Stage 1 offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine as well as a flu vaccine, as soon as possible from September 2021 and individuals in Stage 2 offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine as soon as practicable after Stage 1, with equal emphasis on deployment of the flu vaccine where eligible.
It is important to note that this is interim advice to inform planning and this advice may be subject to change before being finalised. Final decisions on the timing and scope and cohort eligibility, including the groups listed above, of any COVID-19 vaccine booster programme will be confirmed once the JCVI have provided their final advice, alongside considerations related to COVID-19 vaccine supply.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Question 27052 tabled by the Rt hon. Member for Forest Dean on 5 July 2021, for what reason it has not been possible to provide an Answer by the named day of 8 July 2021; and by which date he plans to provide a substantive Answer to that Question.
Answered by Edward Argar
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer of 22 July to Question 27052.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason it was not possible to answer Question 28127 tabled by the hon. Member for Forest of Dean on the named day of 12 July 2021; and when he plans to provide a substantive response to that question.
Answered by Edward Argar
I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer of 20 July to Question 28127.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the Rt Hon Member for West Suffolk, declared to his Department a personal interest relating to Gina Coladangelo, a non-executive director on the Departmental Board until 26 June 2021, in the period from 1 January 2019 to 26 June 2021.
Answered by Edward Argar
The former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Rt. hon Matt Hancock MP) declared his interests to the Department in line with the Ministerial Code.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 25 of Covid-19 Response: Summer 2021, for how long his Department plans to continue regular asymptomatic covid-19 testing for (a) the public, (b) children at school, (c) students at university or college and (d) employees in workplaces.
Answered by Jo Churchill
Test, Trace and Isolate has an important ongoing role in managing the virus and reduces the risk of potentially dangerous variants spreading. It continues to be important that anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 arranges to have a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test and that they stay at home while they are waiting for a home test kit, a test site appointment or a test result.
We continue to recommend twice-weekly asymptomatic testing. Testing remains freely available to all through pharmacies and online at GOV.UK. However, we are stopping free testing offered through workplaces as planned on the 31 July 2021. Asymptomatic testing will continue for education settings open over the summer, including summer schools and wraparound care. On the return to school and college in the autumn term, pupils will take two tests onsite before continuing with twice weekly asymptomatic testing until the end of September, when the position will be reviewed. Asymptomatic testing in vulnerable and higher-risk settings, such as the National Health Service, social care and prisons, will continue until further notice.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to paragraph 26 of Covid-19 Response: Summer 2021 and his Oral Statement of 6 July 2021, Official Report, column 753, what the evidential basis is for the selection of 16 Aug 2021 as the date to implement the policy change on self-isolation after contact with a positive case.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The exemption regarding self-isolation for the fully vaccinated after contact with a positive case is being introduced in mid-August to allow more people to become fully vaccinated, reducing the risk of severe illness.
Public Health England’s (PHE) analysis published on 14 June shows the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is 96% effective against hospitalisation after two doses and the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is 92% effective against hospitalisation after two doses. As the vaccine programme progresses, links between cases and hospitalisations weaken. PHE’s analysis shows the vaccination programme has already prevented over 44,500 hospitalisations and 27,000 deaths in England. Consequently, introduction of the change in August will reduce the risk of further transmission, hospitalisations and deaths.
Asked by: Lord Harper (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of people hospitalised with the B.1.617.2 variant of covid-19 to date were (a) unvaccinated and (b) vaccinated with (i) one dose or (ii) two doses.
Answered by Jo Churchill
As of 25 May 2021, Public Health England has recorded 5,559 cases of B.1.617.2 infection with 201 cases attending emergency care. Of these 201 cases, 138 were unvaccinated at the time of presentation to emergency care. 52 had received a single dose of vaccine while five cases had received both doses. The vaccination status of six cases is unknown.