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 accelerate the booster programme for covid-19 vaccinations; and what plans he has to extend eligibility for covid-19 vaccine boosters to all people under the age of 40.

Due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of concern, on 29 November we announced that the COVID-19 vaccination booster programme for all adults aged 18 to 39 years old would be introduced with immediate effect, in order of descending age groups. The time between primary course and booster dose has also been reduced to a minimum period of three months.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) aims to publish advice on vaccination of children and young people separately to advice on booster vaccination of adults in the light of the emergence of Omicron. The JCVI continues to review the programme alongside the evolving data on the Omicron variant.