Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to the public on the status of the covid-19 vaccination branded Covishield; and whether there are any limitations on international travel for those in receipt of the Covishield vaccine.
Answered by Maggie Throup
No specific guidance has been issued. No AstraZeneca doses branded as Covishield have been administered in the United Kingdom. All AstraZeneca vaccines in the UK are the same product and appear on the NHS COVID Pass as ‘Vaxzevria’, which has been permitted for international travel since May 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress has been made in fulfilling the aims of the document entitled Long COVID: the NHS plan for 2021/22, published in June 2021.
Answered by Maria Caulfield
An additional £70 million has been allocated to expand ‘long’ COVID-19 services delivered through Post-COVID Assessment Clinics and integrated care systems have submitted their service expansion plans. £30 million has also been allocated for an enhanced service for general practice, with a specification published in June 2021 and a draft self-assessment template published in August.
Fourteen paediatric hubs have been established across England to provide advice and help coordinate care for children and young people up to the age of 18 years old. The online Your Covid Recovery service is also being improved to enhance its accessibility and promote its use.
The first monthly data publication on referrals and specialist assessments in post-COVID-19 services was published on 9 September and is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-post-covid-assessment-service/
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
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 30 July 2021 to Question 31551, when UK residents vaccinated against covid-19 while overseas with a (a) Pfizer, (b) Oxford-AstraZeneca and (c) Moderna vaccine are able to be certified as vaccinated by the UK.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
Work is underway to determine which non-Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorised vaccines we will recognise with confidence to enable United Kingdom residents vaccinated abroad to demonstrate their vaccination status. A solution will be rolled out in England as a pilot from the end of September.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the (a) feasibility and (b) efficacy of providing monthly covid-19 antibody tests to care homes.
Answered by Jo Churchill
No assessment has been made on the feasibility and efficacy of providing monthly COVID-19 antibody tests to care homes. However, social care workers in England have been eligible for a free antibody test at National Health Service test sites through and the at-home testing service since Summer 2020 for adult social care staff to access antibody tests if they wish to do so.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the medical needs of recipients of solid organ donations within the covid 19 booster programme; what priority will be given to such recipients in that booster programme; and when the Cov-Boost study, led by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust will be published; and what the planned timescale is for the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations to publish its decision on the plans for that booster programme.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) published interim advice on a potential COVID-19 booster vaccination programme on 30 June 2021, which is available at the following link:
As stated in the interim advice, adults who are severely immunosuppressed, such as those who have had solid organ transplants, may not respond as well to COVID-19 vaccines. The advice states that those adults who are severely immunosuppressed should be offered COVID-19 booster revaccination at the start of the booster programme. It should be noted that this advice may be subject to change before being finalised.
Final decisions on the timing and scope of the vaccine booster programme will be made later in the year, informed by further independent advice from the JCVI. The JCVI will review the emerging scientific evidence to inform the Government in our final decision-making process, which includes further data on the durability of protection from vaccines, data supplied by manufacturers and clinical trial data from the Cov-Boost trial on immune responses following a third vaccination. It is anticipated that primary data from the initial stages of this trial will be reported to the JCVI by the end of summer 2021.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many coronavirus lateral flow device products were evaluated at phase 2 in the test development and evaluation programme of the SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow antigen tests; and how many of those products were fully manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department has evaluated 142 lateral flow antigen tests at phase two. Of these, 24 were manufactured in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many of the lateral flow device products in phase 2 of the test development and evaluation programme of SARS-CoV-2 lateral flow antigen tests proceeded to Phase 3; and how many of those were products fully manufactured in the UK.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Department has evaluated 142 lateral flow antigen tests at phase two. Of these, 60 proceeded to phase three. Of the 60 tests, five were manufactured in the United Kingdom.
Asked by: Richard Fuller (Conservative - North Bedfordshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to add asthma to the list of long-term medical conditions that are exempt from prescription charges.
Answered by Jo Churchill
The Government has no plans to review or extend the prescription charge medical exemptions list. Around 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help people, including those with asthma. To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, the cost of prescriptions can be spread by purchasing prescription pre-payment certificates. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.