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 implications for his policies on the prioritisation of covid-19 vaccines of the Joint Statement on prioritisation of COVID-19 vaccination for seafarers and aircrew by the International Civil Aviation Organization, International Labour Organization, International Maritime Organization, International Organization for Migration and World Health Organization, published on 25 March 2021, that calls on Governments to prioritise seafarers and aircrew in their national covid-19 vaccination programmes.

Phase two of the vaccination programme will cover all adults under 50 years old not already included in phase one. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has concluded that the most effective way to minimise hospitalisations and deaths is to continue to prioritise people by age, as this is assessed to be the strongest factor linked to mortality, morbidity and hospitalisations and because the speed of delivery is crucial to provide more people with protection from COVID-19. Seafarers and aircrew, in line with the JCVI’s advice, will therefore be prioritised for vaccination according to their age and clinical risk along with the rest of the population. They will not be prioritised based on their occupation.