Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the potential role of the community pharmacy sector in delivering annual flu vaccinations; and what steps he plans to take to support that sector to increase its capacity to deliver vaccines.

No assessment has been made of the potential role of the community pharmacy sector in delivering annual flu vaccinations. Community pharmacies have demonstrated their commitment to delivering annual flu vaccinations with numbers increasing year on year. In the 2020/21 flu season, community pharmacies delivered over 2.76 million vaccines, increasing to over 4.79 million vaccines in 2021/22 and over 5 million in 2022/23. The upcoming NHS England vaccination strategy will set out the approach to delivering National Health Service vaccination and immunisation services.