Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason Astra Zeneca Covd-19 booster vaccines are unavailable to (a) the general public on request and (b) to those with life threatening allergies who have received medical advice against having Pfizer or Moderna boosters.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that those eligible for the COVID-19 booster vaccine should be offered either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, due to the strong booster effect conferred by these vaccines. In forming their advice, the JCVI reviewed the latest epidemiology of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, mathematical modelling, data on vaccine safety and vaccine effectiveness and data from trials undertaken to understand the immunological impact of booster vaccination.

Where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered as a booster due to contraindication, such as allergies, the JCVI has advised that the AstraZeneca vaccine may offered where an individual has received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their primary course.