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Written question asked by Rosie Cooper (Labour) on Thursday, 4 February 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 9 February 2021 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Tuesday, 9 February 2021. A substantive answer was provided by Nadhim Zahawi (Conservative) on Monday, 15 February 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 assessment he has made of whether elderly people will potentially have an increased risk of contracting the South African variant of covid-19 due to delaying the second dose of the Pfizer/Biontech vaccine to 12 weeks.

Answer

Industry led studies are ongoing to understand the level of protection the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines will provide against variant strains of COVID-19. This will include immunological studies to understand the potential for protection from COVID-19 vaccines against variants and follow up of phase three trial participants in geographical areas where variants are circulating. Global surveillance systems, including systems within Public Health England, will be able to provide observational data on vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 variants. These will be reviewed by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation as they become available.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
149183
Session
2019-21
Grouped for answer
Yes
Subjects
Older people Vaccination Pfizer Coronavirus BioNTech
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk