Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that (a) teachers and (b) other key workers can receive a flu vaccination in winter 2020.

The flu vaccination is recommended for those in at risk groups, and frontline health and social care workers who have direct contact with patients, so they can protect themselves and the vulnerable people that they care for. This is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The Department has procured additional doses of seasonal flu vaccine to ensure more flu vaccines are available for eligible groups. Guidance for general practitioners, community pharmacists and trusts on accessing this stock has been published and those who have exhausted their own supply are now able to order from this central stock.

Teachers and other key workers, aside from frontline health and care staff, who are not in an at-risk group are not eligible for a free flu vaccination. However, they may have access to the flu vaccine under their employers’ occupational health scheme.