Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes to the eligibility criteria for (a) flu and (b) covid vaccines on (i) vaccine confidence and (ii) uptake rates.

Vaccine uptake rates and public confidence in vaccines are considered as part of planning for future vaccination programmes. However, no assessment has been made of the potential impacts of changes to the eligibility criteria for flu and COVID-19 vaccines on vaccine confidence and uptake rates. This is because the primary aim of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, including hospitalisation and mortality, and vaccination is therefore offered to those at greatest risk of serious disease.