To ask the Minister of Health whether he will update the model for determining who is clinically extremely vulnerable in Northern Ireland and provide new shielding guidance in line with changes being made in England and the University of Oxford's COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment, which incorporates deprivation and ethnicity as risk factors for severe Covid.

I recognise that this has been a difficult and worrying time for many people in our community and particularly for those who have an underlying medical condition which means they may be vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19.

As the Member will be aware, shielding was paused from 31 July 2020. My Department has no plans to reintroduce shielding.

Advice for people who were identified as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to COVID-19 has been kept under continual review by a dedicated Cell in the Department of Health, which is overseen by the Deputy Chief Medical Officer. Up to date advice is available at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-guidance-clinically-extremely-vulnerable-and-vulnerable-people.

My Department is aware of the University of Oxford’s QCovid Risk assessment tool and its outputs have been used to identify those who are at higher risk of poorer outcomes from COVID-19 across the UK.

I recognise that this winter period is likely to raise particular concerns and with the emergence of the Omicron variant which is being carefully monitored, I would therefore once again encourage those who are eligible to do so to come forward for vaccination as well as for the booster since this offers the best available protection against COVID-19. First, second and booster vaccinations are available at a range of locations across Northern Ireland. The details on getting first and second vaccinations or booster is available at Get a COVID-19 vaccination in Northern Ireland | nidirect.