Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of logistical challenges affecting rapid vaccine deployment in rural areas.

The Department, NHS England, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) work together to ensure a new vaccine is rolled out in a timely manner after a policy decision has been made, ensuring that all the components are in place to provide an accessible and safe programme. Supplies of centrally procured vaccines for the routine immunisation programme are available to order from UKHSA by all registered general practices, hospitals, maternity services, and other sites commissioned to deliver the programme. Sites have deliveries at least once a week, regardless of where in England they are located, and the coverage is across the country, including rural areas.

To improve public access to vaccinations, including in rural areas, we are expanding the use of community pharmacies giving vaccinations, including through delivering flu vaccines for two and three-year-olds this autumn. An evaluation will assess whether the use of community pharmacies improves coverage and helps tackle regional health inequalities, in line with the National Health Service vaccination strategy.

To ensure pharmacy access in rural areas, local authorities are required to undertake a pharmaceutical needs assessment every three years to assess whether their population is adequately served by local pharmacies and must keep these assessments under review.

We are also exploring ways of delivering our commitment to administer vaccinations as part of health visits. Local pathfinders for health visitor delivery will begin from January 2026, across a mix of urban and rural geographies.