Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to extend the provisions of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979 to other vaccines including those against (a) seasonal influenza and (b) hepatitis C.

Awards under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS) established under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act (VDPA) 1979 are considered in respect of diseases listed in the VDPA rather than specific vaccines.

With a few exceptions, the scheme essentially covers diseases that are protected against through the routine childhood vaccination programme. There are plans to include childhood influenza, other than pandemic influenza, among the diseases covered by the Act. There are no plans to include adult influenza disease under the VDPS.

There is currently no vaccination programme for hepatitis C disease.