Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the potential merits of prioritising staff in early years settings for covid-19 vaccinations.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are the independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccine/s the UK should use and provide advice on who should be offered them. JCVI advises that the first priorities for the COVID-19 vaccination should be the prevention of mortality and the maintenance of the health and social care systems, and as the risk of mortality from COVID-19 increases with age, prioritisation is primarily based on age. This prioritisation captures almost all preventable deaths from COVID-19. In the next phase of the vaccine rollout, JCVI have asked that the Department for Health and Social Care consider occupational vaccination in collaboration with other Government departments. The Department is working with the Department for Health and Social Care and Public Health England to ensure that the education and childcare workforce is considered for prioritisation in the roll out of the COVID-19 vaccine.