Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment NHS England has made of the effectiveness of the delivery of vaccines to recommend at-risk groups of people under 65 in need of (a) influenza, (b) pneumococcal and (c) pertussis vaccines.

NHS England uses vaccine uptake data to assess the effectiveness of immunisation programmes at local, regional and national levels, which it commissions under the NHS public health functions agreement made with the Secretary of State. This agreement includes key deliverables for vaccine coverage which are set out in the agreement.

Influenza vaccination coverage for at risk individuals from six months to under 65 years of age (excluding pregnant women) is included as a key deliverable in the agreements for 2013/14 and 2014/15, as is pertussis vaccine uptake for pregnant women in the agreement for 2014/15. There are baseline uptake levels for both these programmes.

In 2013/14, influenza vaccination coverage for at risk individuals from six months to under 65 years of age, excluding pregnant women was 51.3% compared to the baseline of 50.0%. The baseline for 2014/15 is 51.3%. For pertussis vaccine uptake for pregnant women, the baseline in 2014/15 is 50.0%.

A copy of the agreements for 2013/14 (including the variation to the agreement) and for 2014/15 have been placed in the Library.