Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether covid-19 vaccination guidelines require vaccinators to aspirate injection needles prior to injecting the vaccine into patients.

The UK Health Security Agency’s COVID-19 vaccination healthcare practitioner guidance states that there is no need to pull back on the plunger, or aspirate, before the plunger is depressed to release the vaccine into the muscle because there are no large blood vessels at the recommended injection sites. This guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-vaccination-programme-guidance-for-healthcare-practitioners