Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Page 78 of the Women’s Health Strategy for England published in August 2022, what steps his Department has taken to encourage research on any long term impacts of receiving covid-19 vaccines during pregnancy.

The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds a policy research unit on maternal and neonatal healthcare, which is conducting research on neonatal complications of COVID-19. The research aims to understand how the virus affects mothers and newborn babies and which treatments are effective. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including COVID-19 and maternal and neonatal health.