Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many meetings her Department has had with (a) clinically vulnerable, (b) clinically extremely vulnerable and (c) immunosuppressed patient support groups and charities since her appointment.

The COVID-19 vaccination programme has ensured that identifying individuals as clinically vulnerable or clinically extremely vulnerable is no longer necessary. However, there remains a smaller number of people whose immune system means they are at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19, despite vaccination.

The Enhanced Protection Programme stakeholder forum was held on 23 September 2022. The forum was chaired by Professor Dame Jenny Harries, the Chief Executive of UK Health Security Agency and attended by officials and charities and groups representing immunosuppressed patients. In addition, officials meet with individual charities representing these patients.