Uh time now to speak to the government.
Joining me this morning is the health
minister Steven Kinnuk. A very good
morning to you. Thanks so much uh for
joining us today. Um today you're
announcing that the NHS is going to
begin vaccinating babies against
chickenpox. So tell us about that roll
out and why you've decided to push ahead
with it.
Yeah, we're really pleased uh to
announce today that from the 1st of
January 2026
uh the uh chickenpox vaccine will be
available on the NHS. Um and it will be
rolled in with the measles mumps and
reubella. So it will become the MMRV
uh vaccine. Um it's going to be a jab at
12 months and 18 months. Uh we think
that it's really important we do this
both for the health benefits because um
chickenpox can uh in often it just in a
mild form it it it doesn't really cause
huge issues from a health point of view
but it does have the potential to cause
quite serious health health
complications and and also particularly
for people who get it when they're
adults. Uh and we also see strong uh
economic uh and educational benefits.
From an economic point of view, so many
parents will know that they have to
scramble for child care, take days off,
uh and that's not good for them, not
good for the economy, not good for the
uh their places of work. And uh of
course for uh educational on the
educational side of things, it's great
that kids will be able to spend more
time in their settings, whether it's
nurseries uh or uh schools or whatever
it might be. So, uh, it's, uh, it's a
win-win, we think, uh, for parents, for,
uh, the economy, and, for kids, and
we're really pleased that it's going to
be rolled out from the 1st of January,
2026.
>> And as you say, you're you're rolling it
out in conjunction with the MMR vaccine,
but the uptake of that combined jab is
at its lowest level for 15 years. So,
how are you going to persuade parents to
get their children jabbed?
Yeah, we're doing uh a mixture of local
and national campaigns. So, we've
identified areas of the country where
uptake is particularly low and we're
doing concentrated and targeted
campaigns there uh working with GPS,
working with public health uh
authorities, working with schools uh to
get the message out about the benefits
uh of getting vaccinated. And then
there's also national campaigns and
we're going to be rolling out more of
those campaigns and and really being
proactive about the way we inform.
Unfortunately, there has been about a
10-year steady decline uh in uh vaccine
take up and of course that was not
helped by the vaccine hesitancy that
we've seen after the pandemic uh in some
communities in particular. So uh it's
these it's a mixture of these targeted
approaches and campaigns and national
campaigns too.
>> Well, yes. And you talk about the the
the vaccine hesitancy since COVID. Is
that what you put it down to? How do you
explain why the numbers of people
getting their children vaccinated
appears to be going down?
>> Yeah, I I think unfortunately we do have
out there quite a lot of misinformation
and disinformation. Uh vaccines seem to
have become a target for certain
conspiracy theorists who who are pumping
out on social media. uh uh
disinformation, unhelpful, unhelpful and
misleading uh information. So I I think
that has been a factor and uh since the
pandemic uh you know I'm afraid that
that has to some extent ramped up. So we
are combating that uh we are very
pleased that we're seeing in the latest
figures which I think were were
published very recently uh showing that
we've that number is stabilizing. So, it
appears that we're stopping the decline,
but we are not yet getting it back up to
the levels that we want to see it at at
around the 95%
uh level. And and that is a job of work
we're looking at very closely as part of
our 10-year plan.
>> Well, yes. And it has meant that almost
one in five children are expected to
start primary school this term without
full protection against serious illness.
How worried are you about that?
>> It is a worry. It absolutely is a worry.
And if you look at the big uh shifts in
our 10-year plan from hospital to
community, from analog to digital and
that third really big shift is from
sickness to prevention. Uh we're really
clear that prevention is always better
than cure. Uh it's better in terms of
patient outcomes. It's also much better
in terms of uh value for the taxpayer.
Uh and so we're really really keen that
we work with communities. We get the
message out there. this combination of
national and local campaigns, uh,
getting people caught up on the vaccines
when they don't have them, working
closely with with GPS. There's a whole
range, there isn't one sort of silver
bullet that's going to solve this
problem. It's a whole range of
initiatives and interventions that we
are we're going to deliver. Uh, but
you're right, it is a concern and is one
that has to be urgently addressed. And
and with this shifting of focus for the
NHS on with more emphasis on prevention,
are we going to see more future
vaccination programs being rolled out,
do you think?
>> Well, we certainly keep that under
review and um uh obviously uh with all
of these things. There's got to be a
balance uh around uh the budget that we
have and the other pressures that there
are on the Department of Health and
Social Care. But there's no doubt at all
that the value for money uh of
prevention uh the investing in
prevention in terms of what it saves
further down the line that case is
absolutely clear and compelling. Uh and
that's why uh we're always looking uh at
opportunities to improve prevention and
vaccines are a vitally important part of
that uh process.
I want to ask you about um the decision
today by the Court of Appeal over
whether or not asylum seekers will be
asked to leave the Bell Hotel in Eping.
If that judgment doesn't go the
government's way and the asylum seekers
do have to leave, where will they go?
>> Well, we're really clear that we want
every asylum hotel in the country to
close down, including the Bell Hotel in
>> fighting to keep this one open.
>> Yeah. because it's a not a question of
if we close the hotels, it's a question
of when and how we close the hotels. And
what we don't want to have is a
disorderly discharge from uh or every
hotel in the country, which would
actually have far worse consequences
than what we currently have in terms of
the impact that would have on asylum
seekers potentially living uh destitute
in the streets. And I don't think any
one of the communities that are
campaigning on these hotels issue want
to see that. So what we are doing is uh
looking to appeal this injunction simply
because we're taking a pragmatic
approach to how we want to manage the
process not because we believe that the
hotel in per se should stay open.
>> Yes. But what if you lose? Where will
those migrants go? I mean this has been
you know on the cards for for for days
now. There must be an answer because the
I think it's 12th of September that they
would have to move out by. So where will
those migrants go?
Yeah, we've got a whole range of
options. Um disused warehouses, disused
office blocks, um you know, mil disused
military barracks. Um we are looking at
every option that we have uh to uh
manage the discharge. Uh and it's really
important that we we do that and put
those plans in place. But of course,
it's going to be much more effective if
we're able to do that in a way where
we're controlling uh the discharge from
these hotels. I I would simply say that
I am as frustrated as every person in
the country about the use of these
hotels for asylum seekers. That is not
what they are there for. Um we inherited
a complete and utter mess from the
current the previous government that had
um lost control of our asylum system.
We're looking to clear up that mess. We
are committed to getting every asylum
seeker out of these hotels. I share
people's frustration on that. What I
would simply say is uh it's important
that the government is able to do this
in a controlled and managed way.
>> And the homeoff argument during this
case seems to be that the rights of
migrants outweighs the rights of
protesters. How do you think the public
will view that?
>> The views of local communities and of
the public are absolutely paramount and
that is why we are committed to closing
down all of these hotels. uh we simply
want to do it in a way that is managed
and controlled. Uh that is why we are
appealing this decision today and I I am
here as a government minister
reiterating the point that it is a
matter of government policy that we will
be closing down all of these hotels. We
just need to do it in a managed and
controlled manner.
>> Okay. Well, Stephen King, we appreciate
your time this morning. Thank you very
much indeed for joining us. Thanks.