Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans for NHS and social care staff to be vaccinated again after 10 weeks of receiving their booster vaccine to enable continued protection against covid-19.

On 21 February 2022, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised offering second booster doses to some individuals as part of the spring COVID-19 vaccination programme. The primary aim of the programme is to reduce the risk of severe disease across the population. For this reason and because protection against severe COVID-19 appears to decline slowly, the most vulnerable groups have been prioritised for a further booster vaccination this spring.

COVID-19 is more serious in older people and those with a weakened immune system. Protection from the vaccine may be lower and may decline more quickly. For this reason, people aged 75 years old and over, those in care homes and those aged 12 years old and over with a weakened immune system are being offered this booster dose.

This dose is being offered as a precaution to those at extremely high risk, most of whom received their first booster approximately six months ago. If the number of infections increases over the summer, this will reduce the risk of vulnerable people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19.

There are no current plans to offer this booster to National Health Service and social care staff. The JCVI continues to consider the latest available data, particularly in relation to the timing and value of any further doses.