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 adequacy of the priority given to dentists and clinical support staff, as part of the covid-19 vaccination programme.

The Government takes advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) regarding who should be vaccinated first and this is kept under review. The JCVI has advised that the immediate priority for the current COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.

In phase one of the vaccination programme, all frontline healthcare staff who are eligible for seasonal influenza vaccination will be offered a COVID-19 vaccine. This includes doctors, dentists, midwives and nurses, paramedics and ambulance drivers, pharmacists, optometrists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, and radiographers.