Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to promote the uptake of free (a) seasonal flu and (b) COVID-19 booster vaccinations to eligible cohorts in winter 2022/23..

The Department together with the National Health Service and UK Health Security Agency are providing advice and information to support those getting the COVID-19 and flu vaccines and to anyone who might have questions about the vaccination process.

Our communications include information and advice shared via television, radio and social media. This has been translated into 28 languages including Albanian, Arabic, Brazilian, Chinese, Hindi, Polish, Tagalog and Urdu. A new country-wide marketing campaign urging millions of eligible people to get their flu and COVID-19 booster vaccines to top up their immunity was launched on 24 October 2022. This includes targeted communications for ethnic minority communities, with a particular focus on those with low vaccine confidence.

Multicultural community activity is seeing teams of campaign ambassadors engage with a range of different ethnic groups who tend to be more vaccine hesitant. This is taking place across the country in high footfall places of worship and nearby community settings.