Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of making people with Long Covid eligible for early covid-19 booster vaccinations by classifying them as clinically vulnerable.

The Government continues to be guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on the eligibility for COVID-19 vaccinations. The autumn booster vaccination will be offered to those at higher risk of severe COVID-19, including adults aged 50 years old and over and individuals aged five to 49 years old in a clinical risk group. These clinical risk groups are defined in the UK Health Security Agency’s ‘Green Book’ on vaccines and immunisation for those conditions which evidence suggests put individuals at greater risk of severe outcomes, including hospitalisation or death. Post-COVID-19 Syndrome is not currently identified by the JCVI as such a condition.