Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the priority for children's and adults' social workers is for receipt of the covid-19 vaccine; whether those social workers will be deemed to be under the category of social care workers in respect of the priority accorded to them for that vaccine; and what the timetable is for the receipt of that vaccine by (a) mental health professionals and (b) other such workers with higher-risks of covid-19 infection undertaking house calls to households with covid-19 positive cases.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), advised that the priority for the current COVID-19 vaccination programme should be the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care staff and systems.

All frontline social care workers directly working with people clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 who need care and support irrespective of where they work will be a priority for phase one of the vaccine programme.

The Government will set out plans for phase two of vaccination, based on further advice from the JCVI. Phase two of the roll-out may include further reduction in hospitalisation and targeted vaccination of those at high risk of exposure and/or those delivering key public services.