Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effectiveness of the autumn covid-19 booster vaccination programme.

The most recent data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE), including the effectiveness of the bivalent boosters administered as part of the autumn booster programme, are published by the UK Health Security Agency in the monthly surveillance report available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccine-weekly-surveillance-reports

VE of the bivalent boosters against hospitalisation was estimated relative to those with waned immunity where the last dose was at least six months prior. The effectiveness measured is therefore incremental effectiveness in addition to at least six months waned protection. The incremental protection conferred was 43.1% for Pfizer after two weeks, and 57.8% for Moderna. Effectiveness was sustained at 10 or more weeks after vaccination at 46.4% for the Pfizer booster and 47.5% for the Moderna booster.