Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) ensure vulnerable children receive routine vaccinations during the covid-19 outbreak and (b) provide a catch-up programme for vulnerable children who may have missed their vaccinations.
The Government’s Coronavirus Action Plan stated that everyone should ensure that they and their family’s vaccinations were up-to-date. The Action Plan is available at the following link:
Public Health England and NHS England and NHS Improvement have worked with regional commissioners to ensure routine childhood immunisations continued to be delivered in primary care settings during the COVID-19 outbreak. Programmes delivered through schools were paused as a result of school closures, but plans are in operation for their recovery, for example by vaccinating during the school holidays, to ensure that all children who missed a routine immunisation are caught up as quickly as possible.