Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase the speed of the recruitment process for vaccinators who are already medically qualified and registered.

We are working with the Royal Voluntary Service and St John Ambulance to recruit and train thousands more volunteer vaccinators, who will have all the relevant clinical training, as well as supervision, to ensure they can vaccinate in a way that is safe for patients and for themselves. This includes drawing on the skills of those who have volunteered through the NHS Bring Back Scheme as well as those currently working outside of the National Health Service such as St John Ambulance, independent nurses and occupational health service providers.

In addition, secondary legislation enabling more healthcare workers to administer flu and potential COVID-19 vaccines has been introduced.