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 including inclusion of Myalgic encephalomyelitis in the group 6 specified conditions for covid-19 vaccination; and what estimate he has made of the number of people with that condition who have received a covid-19 vaccination.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has not identified any robust data to indicate that, as a group, persons with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue symdrome (ME/CFS) are at higher risk of dying from COVID-19, therefore those under 50 years old are not prioritised for phase one of the programme.

Prioritisation for Phase two has not yet been decided, but interim advice has been published by the JVCI recommending an age-based approach, which the Government has accepted in principle subject to final advice. The information on estimates of people with ME/CFS who have received a covid-19 vaccination is not held centrally in the format requested.