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 prioritising people with mental health issues for the covid-19 vaccine.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has considered the available evidence and published the prioritisation list for COVID-19 vaccination, which is largely prioritised by age due to the strong association of older age and mortality from COVID-19. Those considered clinically extremely vulnerable have also been prioritised for vaccination and those in clinical risk groups aged 16 years old and over.

Persons with severe mental illness are included as a risk group prioritised for COVID-19 vaccination and are described as individuals with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, or any mental illness that causes severe functional impairment.