7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Target implementation date: Spring 2023 7.2 Funding for the vaccine procurement and deployment programme is held within DHSC budgets. The delivery responsibility for procurement sits with the Vaccine Task Force joint unit, and for the deployment programme with the NHSE vaccine programme director as Senior Responsible Owner. The department recognises the importance of setting annual budgets and funding in good time. Ahead of the start of 2022-23, this process was unfortunately delayed in part due to the response to the Omicron variant, and while the Living with Covid strategy was being developed and agreed. 7.3 The department has currently set aside a minimum of around £2 billion of funding in the 2022-23 financial year for vaccine procurement and deployment against COVID-19. 7.4 For the 2022-23 financial year, the department is set to have delivered a spring booster to the most vulnerable adults, rolled out vaccinations to 5-11-year-old children, and deployed an autumn booster to adults aged 50 and over, clinical risk groups and frontline health and social care workers. This is as well as a continued offer to vaccinate those eligible from last year’s campaigns and maintaining the capability to expand or accelerate the programme, similar to what was required following the emergence of the initial Omicron variant last FY. As the country learns to live with COVID it is a possibility that the programme will need to adjust its course throughout the year and deploy to further cohorts should that be needed, and in accordance with JCVI recommendations. Budget allocations are therefore subject to change in response to these modifications to the vaccine programme.