Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to publish a winter preparedness analysis for 2025-26 defining eligibility for covid boosters.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is an independent expert committee which reviews the latest data on COVID-19 risks, vaccine safety, and effectiveness and advises the department on the approach to vaccination and immunisation programmes. The JCVI published advice for future COVID-19 vaccination campaigns in autumn 2025 and spring 2026 in November 2024, and published advice for autumn 2026 and spring 2027 in July 2025. The Government accepted JCVI advice for autumn 2025 in June 2025. The Government is considering the JCVI’s advice for 2026 and spring 2027 carefully and will respond in due course.

The primary aim of the national COVID-19 vaccination programme remains the prevention of serious disease, involving hospitalisations and deaths, arising from COVID-19. The JCVI assessment indicates that the oldest age cohorts and individuals who are immunosuppressed are the two groups who continue to be at higher risk of serious disease.

Therefore, in autumn 2025, a COVID-19 vaccination is being offered to:

- adults aged 75 years old and over;

- residents in a care home for older adults;

- individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed, as defined in the ‘immunosuppression’ sections of tables 3 or 4 in the COVID-19 chapter of the UK Health Security Agency Green Book.

The National Health Service is preparing earlier and more robustly for winter this year, with rigorous stress testing of local plans, closer working with local partners, and a far earlier kick-off of winter preparations. Vaccinations have been ramped up across the board for flu, COVID-19 and respiratory syncytial virus so families can protect themselves and others. This includes the surge capacity and escalation plans in place across all NHS and urgent care services. As set out in the 2025/26 Urgent Emergency Care Plan, the NHS is focusing on improvements that will see the biggest impact on urgent and emergency care performance this winter. The 2025/26 Urgent Emergency Care Plan is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/urgent-and-emergency-care-plan-2025-26/