Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what are their reasons for implementing restrictions on the spring 2023 COVID-19 booster programme; and what factors were considered in determining the eligibility criteria for the booster programme.

As with all vaccination programmes in the United Kingdom, the decision on which groups are eligible for a particular vaccination programme is only made following careful consideration of the groups most at risk of illness, severe illness, or death because of infection. For COVID-19, the primary aim of the vaccination programme continues to be the prevention of severe disease, both in hospitalisation and mortality, arising from COVID-19.

Therefore, in February 2023, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided advice for the spring 2023 COVID-19 vaccination programme. As a precautionary measure, JCVI advised a spring booster dose for the most vulnerable in the population, as a proportionate response: those over the age of 75 years, residents in a care home for older adults, and those over five years of age who are immunosuppressed.