Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to ensure adequate supplies of the PPV23 vaccine.

The Department is aware of the intermittent issues affecting the supply of Pneumococcal polysaccharide 23-valent vaccine (PPV 23 vaccine). We are working closely with Public Health England (PHE) and the supplier, MSD, on this issue and can confirm that further United Kingdom deliveries are expected to be made available over the coming months. Despite this, supplies are expected to be constrained for the foreseeable future. In order to mitigate the impact to patients, PHE has issued clinical guidance to general practitioners, which provides recommendations on how to manage patients who are eligible for vaccination during periods of constraint.