Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the impact of changing eligible age cohorts for annual flu vaccination on the uptake of (a) influenza and (b) covid-19 vaccines.

Vaccine uptake rates are considered in the 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 uptake rates. This is because the primary aim of the COVID-19 and flu vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease (hospitalisation and mortality) and vaccination is therefore offered to those at greatest risk of serious disease.