Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 2nd March 2022) - View Source

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 updating guidelines for the administration of covid-19 vaccines to include aspiration before injection.


Answered by
Maggie Throup Portrait
Maggie Throup
This question was answered on 9th March 2022

No specific 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 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 review in line with the latest available evidence.

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