Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will take steps to ensure that non-mRNA covid vaccines are made available via the NHS to people unable to receive mRNA vaccines.

All vaccines in the United Kingdom must be authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) before they can be placed on the United Kingdom’s market. The updated 2024/25 Novavax (Nuvaxovid) COVID-19 vaccine has not been authorised by the MHRA.

The COVID-19 chapter of the publication, Immunisation against infectious diseases, also known as the Green Book, details that there are very few individuals who cannot receive the COVID-19 vaccines approved in the UK. The Green Book Chapter 14a can be found on the GOV.UK website, at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-the-green-book-chapter-14a

Published advice recommends that anyone with a prior allergic reaction to COVID-19 vaccines should be seen by an expert allergist and, after a review of the individual’s risks and benefits of vaccination, where vaccination is indicated, they could then be vaccinated in hospital under clinical supervision. NHS England will continue to follow this clinical guidance and offer mRNA vaccination under expert supervision in a hospital setting. This advice can be found at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/vaccinations/COVID-19-vaccine/