§ Dr. KumarTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the number of older people(a) in England and (b) in Middlesbrough, South and Cleveland, East who have benefited from (i) subsidised and (ii) free pneumococcal and flu vaccinations. [16211]
§ Yvette Cooper[holding answer 19 November 2001]: I apologise to my hon. Friend for the delay in responding to this question. I refer him to the reply that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State gave my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool, North and Fleetwood (Mrs. Humble) on 5 March 2002, Official Report, column 192W.
Final monitoring figures received from flu co-ordinators nationally report that, at 31 December 2001, 5,113,556–68 per cent. of those aged 65 years and over—received their flu immunisation. For the same period, Tees health authority report that 58,202 (67.8 per cent.) received their flu immunisation.
Pneumococcal vaccine is recommended to those based on underlying ill health rather than age. The Department does not therefore hold data on the number of immunisations given by age group. Figures obtained from the Prescribing Analysis and Cost (PACT) system for the period December 2000 to November 2001 show that 486,000 prescriptions for pneumococcal vaccine were dispensed nationally and 4,800 for Tees health authority.