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 aspiration in the vaccine administration procedures for the covid-19 vaccine rollout.

No assessment has been made. The UK Health Security Agency’s guidance on immunisation techniques states that it is not necessary to aspirate the syringe after the needle is introduced into the muscle, as there are no large blood vessels at the recommended injection sites. This guidance is also consistent with the Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC) for the COVID-19 vaccines approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The SPCs do not state that aspiration is required prior to injection of the vaccine. As with all recommendations for vaccine administration, this is kept under regular review in line with the latest available evidence.