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 ensuring that local vaccine centres are able to offer covid-19 vaccines at risk of expiring to non-priority groups.

No vaccines should be wasted. All vaccination centres should have a backup list people in the cohorts currently being vaccinated, who can be called in case doses would be wasted. If no members of the currently vaccinated cohorts are available, it is recommended that members of the priority cohorts next in line be vaccinated.

In the unlikely case the above is not possible, and where the general practitioner practice can demonstrate exceptional circumstances showing that it is clinically appropriate and where resources would otherwise have been wasted, then individuals present on site should be vaccinated based on clinical judgement. This is in line with the Enhanced Service Specification for the COVID-19 vaccination programme 2020/21.