Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his Answer of 23 March 2021 to Question 169082, whether staff in the Royal Submarine Service who are deployed on submarines for a period of longer than three months are entitled to both doses of a covid-19 vaccine prior to deployment, regardless of which JCVI cohort they fall into.

Defence will ensure all Service Personnel are not disadvantaged in their access to the COVID-19 vaccine, both in the UK and overseas. If they cannot safely be vaccinated with both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in line with their age cohort whilst deployed, they will be vaccinated before leaving the UK.