Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 17th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether those who are immunocompromised can access a fourth dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; and what steps they are taking to improve clarity on how this information is being recorded.


Answered by
Lord Kamall Portrait
Lord Kamall
This question was answered on 24th January 2022

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advised that severely immunosuppressed individuals aged 12 years old and over who have completed their primary course of three doses should be offered a booster dose, with a minimum of three months between the third primary and booster dose. Those who have not yet received their third dose may receive this immediately, with a booster dose administered in three months, in line with clinical advice on optimal timing.

General practitioners (GPs) or hospital specialists will invite those with severe immunosuppression for their fourth dose when eligible. If an individual has received a letter from their GP or hospital specialist inviting them for their third dose, they may present this at a walk-in vaccination site.

For the severely immunosuppressed cohort, the third primary dose should be recorded as a booster vaccination in Point of Care Systems. A subsequent booster for severely immunosuppressed patients after a further 91 days will be recorded as a second booster dose. Point of Care Systems support the recording of multiple booster vaccinations. All doses appear in the individual’s vaccination history and are recorded in the National Incident Management System and GP record. Information is recorded in this way due to the technology being immediately available and was clinically accurate in capturing the detail of the vaccine an individual had received. An assessment concluded that retrospectively updating records in the immediate term could risk creating a data quality issue.

Reticulating Splines