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Written question asked by Claudia Webbe (Independent (affiliation)) on Wednesday, 3 February 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 February 2021. It was answered by Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative) on Tuesday, 13 April 2021 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and their international counterparts on the decision to extend the maximum wait to receive the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine to 12 weeks.

Answer

The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care regularly discusses a range of issues related to the pandemic with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, including COVID-19 vaccines. Ministers and officials are regularly in discussions with other countries to share learning and collaborate internationally on the vaccination programme.

Updating the dosing interval is in line with the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI). Whilst the National Health Service across the United Kingdom will prioritise giving the first dose of the vaccine to those in the most high-risk groups, everyone will still receive their second dose within 12 weeks of their first.   The JCVI’s statement on changing the dose interval is available at the following link:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose-jcvi-statement/optimising-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-maximum-short-term-impact

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
148953
Session
2019-21
Subjects
Vaccination Pfizer Coronavirus Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office BioNTech
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk