Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2025 to Question 74995 on Covid: Vaccination, for what reason (a) spousal household contacts aged under 75 years of immunosuppressed individuals and (b) other household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals are not eligible for the NHS covid-19 autumn booster programme during the autumn and winter of 2025/26.

The Government is committed to protecting those most vulnerable to COVID-19 through vaccination, as guided by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of severe illness, involving hospitalisation and/or death, arising from COVID-19.

The JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024 noted that in the era of high population immunity to COVID-19, and with all cases due to highly transmissible Omicron sub-variants, any protection offered by the vaccine against the transmission of infection from one person to another was expected to be extremely limited. On this basis, the JCVI did not advise offering vaccination to any household contacts. The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice for autumn 2024, with both the advice and the Government’s response available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-accepts-advice-on-2024-autumn-covid-vaccine-programme

Household contacts were therefore not offered vaccination in the autumn 2024 campaign. On 13 November 2024, the JCVI published advice on the COVID-19 vaccination programme covering vaccination in 2025 and spring 2026. In line with its advice for the autumn 2024 campaign, the JCVI did not advise COVID-19 vaccination for household contacts. This advice is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026-jcvi-advice/jcvi-statement-on-covid-19-vaccination-in-2025-and-spring-2026#:~:text=the%20JCVI%20webpage.-,Advice%20on%20vaccination%20in%20spring%202025,care%20home%20for%20older%20adults(opens in a new tab)

The Government accepted the JCVI’s advice on eligibility for the spring and autumn 2025 COVID-19 vaccination programme. The Government is considering the advice for spring 2026 carefully, and will respond in due course.