Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to (a) the definition of severe asthma set out in paragraph 1.2 of the NICE 2020 publication, COVID-19 rapid guideline: severe asthma and (b) the article by Bloom et al published in The Lancet on 4 March 2021, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of prioritising all asthmatics in (i) phase 2 and (ii) future phases including booster shots of the covid-19 vaccine rollout; and whether the JCVI considered the NICE guidelines on covid-19 and severe asthma when setting out the approach to covid-19 vaccination roll out in the UK.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) considered data from OpenSAFELY and QCOVID in determining the risk of COVID-19 in those with asthma and in determining which individuals with asthma were at significant risk of mortality from COVID-19 in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme. The JCVI concluded that only a subset of those with asthma are at clinically higher risk from COVID-19. This group is defined by data from OpenSAFELY and QCOVID as adults with asthma who require continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s guideline Bloom et al were not used.

For phase two, the JCVI concluded that there is good evidence that the risks of hospitalisation and critical care admission from COVID-19 increase with age. The JCVI advised that the offer of vaccination during phase two is age-based starting with the oldest adults first. The JCVI has not advised prioritisation of any sub-groups and is currently considering the need for and timing of future phases and booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines. Their advice will be published in due course.