Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of adults aged 80 and over who may develop shingles between the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s November 2024 advice on expanding eligibility and the date on which that advice is implemented.

The Government is considering the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice on shingles vaccinations, examining factors including clinical benefits, affordability and cost effectiveness.

No decision has yet been taken on any expansion of the existing shingles vaccination programme to include adults aged 80 years old or over.

For any routine vaccination programme which the Government decides to implement, efforts to introduce or expand the programme are determined by factors including availability of supply, contractual arrangement on supply, affordability, workforce capacity and impact on other programmes.