Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many housebound residents have received at least one dose of a covid-19 vaccination in (a) Leicester East constituency and (b) the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The data is not held in the format requested. However, NHS England publishes daily data for vaccinations in England, showing the total first and second doses given to date, by region. NHS England also publishes the number of people in the clinically extremely vulnerable cohort who have received their first and second doses, updated weekly. The number of vaccinations in each United Kingdom constituency by age group is also updated weekly. The data is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to study the efficacy of a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine beyond 21 days.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Public Health England (PHE) has been monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccines. Early data has shown that the Pfizer vaccine is highly effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among older people aged 70 years old and over. Since January, protection against symptomatic COVID-19 four weeks after the first dose ranged from 57-61% for one dose.
PHE has also undertaken their first analysis of the early effects of COVID-19 vaccination using routine testing and vaccination data across England. This data, published in a pre-print on 1 March 2021, provides early evidence that a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine is having a significant effect on the reduction of COVID-19 infection, hospitalisations and deaths in those over 70 years old. The Pfizer vaccine was shown as approximately 60-70% effective, rising to 85-90% after two doses. This analysis is available at the following link:
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of worst-case scenario if it is proven that protection from a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine does not persist after 21 days.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
After studying all the available data, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) concluded that the first dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provided substantial protection from severe COVID-19 disease within two to three weeks of vaccination. Whilst the second vaccine dose is important to sustain the protection and extend its duration, in the short term the additional impact of the second dose is likely to be modest and most of the initial protection from clinical disease is after the first dose of vaccine.
The latest data from Public Health England, published on 1 March showed that both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among older people aged 70 years old and over. Since January protection against symptomatic COVID-19, four weeks after the first dose, ranged between 57 and 61% for one dose of Pfizer and between 60 and 73% for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
No specific assessment has been made. The decision to extend the dosing interval to up to twelve weeks was based on advice from the JCVI and United Kingdom’s four Chief Medical Officers.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to produce an estimate of the efficacy for a single dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine beyond 21 days.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
After studying all the available data, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) concluded that the first dose of either Pfizer-BioNTech or Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine provided substantial protection from severe COVID-19 disease within two to three weeks of vaccination. Whilst the second vaccine dose is important to sustain the protection and extend its duration, in the short term the additional impact of the second dose is likely to be modest and most of the initial protection from clinical disease is after the first dose of vaccine.
The latest data from Public Health England, published on 1 March showed that both the Pfizer and Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines are highly effective in reducing COVID-19 infections among older people aged 70 years old and over. Since January protection against symptomatic COVID-19, four weeks after the first dose, ranged between 57 and 61% for one dose of Pfizer and between 60 and 73% for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine.
No specific assessment has been made. The decision to extend the dosing interval to up to twelve weeks was based on advice from the JCVI and United Kingdom’s four Chief Medical Officers.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of care home (a) residents and (b) staff have been (i) offered and (ii) refused each vaccine dose in care homes in (A) Leicester East constituency, (B) Leicester and (C) the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information requested is not collected centrally.
Published data for England from 4 March shows that as at 28 February, 93.8% of eligible care home residents and 72.9% of eligible care home staff had received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The proportion of care home residents and staff who have received their second dose is not yet available.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of NHS staff in each ethnic group in Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland have been offered the covid-19 vaccine; and how many of those people have (a) refused and (b) not yet taken up the vaccine.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The information is not currently held in the format requested.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the report of the British Society for Immunology for studies on the efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech covid-19 vaccine after altering the dosing interval of that vaccine.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The British Society for Immunology report provides an expert review of current research on immunity and COVID-19 and recommends research to add to our knowledge about the immune system’s response. The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and UK Research and Innovation are jointly funding the UK Coronavirus Immunology Consortium, which will address key research themes on immunity to COVID-19.
In addition, the NIHR has contracted the National Immunisation Schedule Evaluation Consortium to gather immunological evidence on 28 day and 12 week dosing intervals for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines. Public Health England is also monitoring the effectiveness of vaccines on disease, infection and transmission including the impact of dosing intervals on effectiveness.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the personal data of those seeking access to NHS services is shared with immigration enforcement authorities.
Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
National Health Service trusts may contact the Home Office in relation to overseas visitors who are presenting or have presented for NHS secondary care treatment for the following two purposes:
- To complete an immigration status check through the Home Office Evidence and Enquiry service, where the trust is unable to establish this by any other means and this information is relevant to establishing a person’s entitlement to free secondary care; and
- To notify the Home Office of individuals subject to immigration control with debts of £500 or more that have been outstanding for two or more months. In doing so they must follow strict processes, set out in the Department of Health and Social Care’s guidance.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to extend access to covid-19 vaccinations to adults without indefinite right to remain status.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Vaccination against COVID-19 is a primary care service and is free to all overseas visitors to England, including anyone living in the United Kingdom without permission. It is not, therefore, within scope of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2015. As no charges apply, immigration status checks are not required in order to assess eligibility. This message has been shared with the public through the NHS website and Public Health England’s Migrant Health Guide.
Asked by: Claudia Webbe (Independent - Leicester East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report, Optimising the COVID-19 vaccination programme for maximum short-term impact , updated on 26 January 2021, if he will publish a specific timeframe for the short-term vaccine efficacy referred to in that report.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
A phase three clinical trial study on the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine efficacy demonstrated a two-dose vaccine efficacy of 95% with a second dose delivered between 19 and 42 days.
Using data available from this study, Public Health England estimated that short term vaccine efficacy from the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to be approximately 89%. This is the efficacy calculated 15 to 21 days after the first dose. The estimate for 15 to 28 days is 91% which includes the seven days after the second dose and is prior to the time protection may be expected from the second dose.
There is no estimate of efficacy for a single dose beyond 21 days. Given the data available, evidence on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and from the use of many other non-COVID-19 vaccines, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises a maximum interval between the first and second doses of 12 weeks. The use of ‘short-term’ in this report refers to the impact of the programme over the first months of the programme. Further information on the estimates of efficacy of one dose is available in the JCVI’s statement on 31 December which is available at the following link:
The British Medical Association have questioned the decision to use an extended schedule for COVID-19 vaccines. Data on the AstraZeneca vaccine indicate better immune responses from the second dose with an extended schedule and that protection is maintained over a twelve-week period.
The JCVI is of the view that the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is likely to provide protection for at least 12 weeks.
There is no evidence to indicate a correlation between the presence of neutralising antibodies and a vaccine effect on transmission.
The JCVI aims to publish background documents to its meetings. However many of these relating to vaccine efficacy were provided to the committee in confidence or under a non-disclosure agreement and cannot be published by the JCVI. Evidence on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy will be published by the relevant industry groups, usually in peer reviewed journals.