A debate has been scheduled in Westminster Hall on 13 October on an e-petition on bovine TB control and badger culling. The debate will be opened by Irene Campbell MP.

A debate has been scheduled in Westminster Hall on 13 October on an e-petition on bovine TB control and badger culling. The debate will be opened by Irene Campbell MP.

A debate on the fifth anniversary of the covid-19 pandemic is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons Chamber on Thursday 12 June 2025. The subject for the debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee, and the debate will be led by James Asser MP.

A debate on the fifth anniversary of the covid-19 pandemic is scheduled to take place in the House of Commons Chamber on Thursday 12 June 2025. The subject for the debate was determined by the Backbench Business Committee, and the debate will be led by James Asser MP.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising the Infection Prevention Controls guidance in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and Health Technical Memoranda guidelines prior to 1 March 2025 to ensure (a) recognition...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of revising the Infection Prevention Controls guidance in the National Infection Prevention and Control Manual and Health Technical Memoranda guidelines prior to 1 March 2025 to ensure (a) recognition...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of waiting until the publication of the final Module 3 Covid-19 Inquiry report to (a) recognise the role of airborne transmission of SARS-Cov-2 and (b) update (i) Infection Prevention Controls...

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of waiting until the publication of the final Module 3 Covid-19 Inquiry report to (a) recognise the role of airborne transmission of SARS-Cov-2 and (b) update (i) Infection Prevention Controls...

I wish to update the House on an increase in whooping cough (Pertussis) cases across England and the actions that the Government and health system are taking to control spread of the disease.

Data published by UK Health Security Agency on 9 May 2024 shows, provisionally, that whooping cough cases are...

I wish to update the House on an increase in whooping cough (Pertussis) cases across England and the actions that the Government and health system are taking to control spread of the disease.

Data published by UK Health Security Agency on 9 May 2024 shows, provisionally, that whooping cough cases are...

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins MP) made the following Written Statement:

I wish to update the House on an increase in whooping cough (Pertussis) cases across England and the actions that the Government and health system are taking to control spread...

My Rt. Hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Victoria Atkins MP) made the following Written Statement:

I wish to update the House on an increase in whooping cough (Pertussis) cases across England and the actions that the Government and health system are taking to control spread...

I should put it on record that I am fully vaccinated, that I was a supporter of the vaccines when they first came out, and that I am a supporter of them now and will continue to be. I think that they play a huge role in managing serious disease....

I should put it on record that I am fully vaccinated, that I was a supporter of the vaccines when they first came out, and that I am a supporter of them now and will continue to be. I think that they play a huge role in managing serious disease....

I could not agree more with the hon. Gentleman. We know that there is a cohort of people for whom the covid-19 vaccines have led to reactions, and we know that there is, tragically, a cohort of people who have died. We need to learn more about the impact of...

I could not agree more with the hon. Gentleman. We know that there is a cohort of people for whom the covid-19 vaccines have led to reactions, and we know that there is, tragically, a cohort of people who have died. We need to learn more about the impact of...

Apologies for my croaky voice. I will try to respond to all the points that I can.

I thank the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) for securing this important debate. As the Opposition have rightly said, it is important that we have the debate in a measured way,...

Apologies for my croaky voice. I will try to respond to all the points that I can.

I thank the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) for securing this important debate. As the Opposition have rightly said, it is important that we have the debate in a measured way,...

After a pandemic, which we have been out of for quite some years, we would expect a deficit in deaths, so why have we not had a deficit for the past two years, in which we have not had the covid pandemic?

After a pandemic, which we have been out of for quite some years, we would expect a deficit in deaths, so why have we not had a deficit for the past two years, in which we have not had the covid pandemic?

The hon. Gentleman may have missed my last sentence before his intervention. I said that the ONS data shows that in every week in 2024 so far, we have had negative excess deaths. That goes specifically to his point.

We are not complacent, though. As I set out in previous debates,...

The hon. Gentleman may have missed my last sentence before his intervention. I said that the ONS data shows that in every week in 2024 so far, we have had negative excess deaths. That goes specifically to his point.

We are not complacent, though. As I set out in previous debates,...

Of all the concerning points that the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) made in his opening speech, particularly abhorrent was the suggestion that people who were not eligible for a ventilator were essentially condemned to death. That is a deeply disturbing thing to say, and it does...

Of all the concerning points that the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Andrew Bridgen) made in his opening speech, particularly abhorrent was the suggestion that people who were not eligible for a ventilator were essentially condemned to death. That is a deeply disturbing thing to say, and it does...

Absolutely, and I thank my hon. Friend for his work during those difficult times. We did not have a vaccine in those days, and we did not know how long covid was going to last. I reassure the relatives who are listening to this debate that we treated every single...

Absolutely, and I thank my hon. Friend for his work during those difficult times. We did not have a vaccine in those days, and we did not know how long covid was going to last. I reassure the relatives who are listening to this debate that we treated every single...

When will the immunosuppressed have access to Evusheld? Will it be this week, next week, sometime or never?

When will the immunosuppressed have access to Evusheld? Will it be this week, next week, sometime or never?

That is a clinical decision, but now that we have the omicron variant, the evidence for Evusheld’s effectiveness is not as compelling.

Returning to the crux of the matter, there are risks and benefits to every single medicine when the regulator or NICE is weighing up whether to license or fund...

That is a clinical decision, but now that we have the omicron variant, the evidence for Evusheld’s effectiveness is not as compelling.

Returning to the crux of the matter, there are risks and benefits to every single medicine when the regulator or NICE is weighing up whether to license or fund...

Will the Minister give way?

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way one more time, as I have only a few minutes left.

I will give way one more time, as I have only a few minutes left.

I thank the Minister for giving way. She is very generous.

Using her medical experience, can the Minister explain to the House—I am befuddled by this—how a systemic vaccine injected into the arm, into the blood and creating an antibody response, can stop an infection of the airways and lungs by...

I thank the Minister for giving way. She is very generous.

Using her medical experience, can the Minister explain to the House—I am befuddled by this—how a systemic vaccine injected into the arm, into the blood and creating an antibody response, can stop an infection of the airways and lungs by...