Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to prioritise people in care home settings with learning disabilities for covid-19 vaccination; and if he will take steps to ensure that those people are vaccinated with higher priority than priority level six in the context of the covid-19 mortality rate among adults with learning disabilities.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advise the Government on which vaccine(s) the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation.

As the highest risk of mortality increases with age, the JCVI advise that care home residents, their staff and those over 80 years old should be the first group to receive the vaccine. Adults with Down's syndrome and people with a severe and profound learning disability are also prioritised to receive the vaccine; they are within the fourth and sixth vaccine prioritisation groups respectively.

With regards to prioritising vaccines for people in care home settings with learning disabilities higher than in their current group six category, we will continue to review the evidence and advice from the JCVI as it emerges to determine if this is required.