Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
We asked officials about their strategy with regard to the unvaccinated.
Conclusion
We asked officials about their strategy with regard to the unvaccinated. UKHSA and NHS England told us that the basic public health message remained clear—that everyone was encouraged to get vaccinated—and that they continued to work with local government, local public health experts and community leaders to target the unvaccinated population.25 Written evidence from the Royal College of Nursing supported these goals but also suggested that there was a need for more work to ensure that all population groups had ready access to and felt trust in the vaccine.26
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government
Not Addressed
1. PAC conclusion: Nearly 3 million adults in England remain unvaccinated and are therefore at greater risk of becoming hospitalised or dying because of COVID-19 than if they were vaccinated. 2 1: PAC recommendation: Both NHS England and its local partners, should redouble efforts to reach the unvaccinated and those not fully vaccinated. We recommend that the COVID-19 vaccine programme set itself a challenge to reduce the overall number of adults who are unvaccinated to 2.5 million, and achieve an 80% uptake for (first) boosters among adults, within four months of announcing the challenge. 1.1 The government disagrees with the Committee’s recommendation. 1.2 NHS England (NHSE) and its local partners continue to focus on reaching out to and maintaining an offer of COVID-19 vaccination to the unvaccinated and the not fully vaccinated. Throughout the lifetime of the programme however, government has adopted an approach that it would learn from past immunisation programmes and move away from uptake targets and focus its efforts on making a credible offer to the population, providing accurate information, using trusted voices to help promote uptake and engaging with people at a local level. This principle will continue to be adopted for the COVID-19 vaccine programme going forward. 1.3 A convenient offer – including the use of walk-in and mobile vaccination clinics to enable easy access - continues to be an important way in which the government is working hard to reach people who are traditionally underserved and who remain unvaccinated for COVID-19. 1.4 Through these activities, there were considerable reductions in the unvaccinated during the spring booster campaign. As of the week ending 4 September 2022, using Office for National Statistics (ONS) population estimates, 2.9 million individuals remain unvaccinated in England. 1.5 An increase has been seen in booster dose uptake over the same period. As of 9 September 2022, 82.2% of adults eligible for a first booster/third dose had received their first booster/third dose. NHSE expects that both figures will continue to improve during the 2022 autumn/winter campaign, and it will continue to monitor progress against plans.