Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will (a) prioritise people working in frontline logistical services for the covid-19 vaccine and (b) publish a timescale for the rollout of that vaccine to that group of people.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) consists of independent experts who advise the Government on which vaccines the United Kingdom should use and provide advice on prioritisation at a population level.  For the first phase, the JCVI has advised that the vaccine be given to care home residents and staff, people aged over 80 years old and frontline health and social care workers, then to the rest of the population in order of age and clinical risk factors.

Frontline healthcare workers are staff who have frequent face-to-face clinical contact with patients and who are directly involved in patient care in either secondary or primary care/community settings. Non-clinical ancillary staff who may have social contact with patients but are not directly involved in patient care are also considered frontline healthcare workers. If people working in frontline logistical services for the COVID-19 vaccine fall into these groups, then they will be vaccinated in priority group two.