Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what research his Department has undertaken on the potential link between covid-19 vaccine resistance and needle phobias; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) oral or (b) nasal ingestion of that vaccine to increase take-up; and if he will make a statement.

The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The NIHR is not currently supporting specific research on vaccine hesitancy and needle phobias. However, the NIHR and UK Research and Innovation have co-funded research on oral and nasal ingestion of the COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately £580,000 was awarded to Imperial College London for a study on two candidate vaccines administered to the respiratory tract. The NIHR is also providing infrastructure support to two phase one studies in this area through the University of Oxford and Imperial College London.