Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of including teachers as recipients of the free flu vaccination in winter 2020-21.
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).
Based on the JCVI’s advice, teachers, who are not in an at-risk group, are not eligible for a free flu vaccination. However, some teachers may have access to a free flu vaccine under their employers’ occupational health scheme.