Petition · past parliament
Ensure second Covid vaccine doses are delivered within 3 weeks of first doses.
Rejected
21 signatures
What the petition asks
The Government must ensure that all Covid vaccinations that are reliant on double doses are delivered according to their manufacturer's specifications. For the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, that means delivering second doses within 3 weeks of first doses.
The manufacturers of both vaccines, particularly the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, have stated their vaccines were trialled with 3 weeks between the first and second doses, not 12 weeks, as is the Government's current recommended timeline. The manufacturers also stated they do not recommend increasing the time between doses for fear of reduced effectiveness. If vaccine effectiveness falls as a result of the Government extending the gap between doses, it would be an egregious disservice to the public.
Why it was rejected
It asked for something that is not the responsibility of the UK Government or Parliament.
We can only accept petitions about things the Government or House of Commons are directly responsible for, and decisions about approval of vaccines and the administration of these is a matter for various public health agencies, not the Government or House of Commons.
We have published the following petition calling for a related action, which you might like to sign:
Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials: Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials
The delays to receiving the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine has been implemented by the NHS following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments on immunisation, which has also been supported by the UK's four Chief Medical Officers. Their new advice and the changes to the Covid-19 vaccination programme are consistent with the temporary authorisations granted for these vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The JCVI, Chief Medical Officers, MHRA and NHS England are all independent and operationally independent of the UK Government, so we cannot accept petitions calling for actions that these bodies are responsible for.
You can read the JCVI's advice on optimising the COVID-19 vaccination programme for maximum short-term impact here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose-jcvi-statement/optimising-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-maximum-short-term-impact
You can read the statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the prioritisation of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-on-the-prioritisation-of-first-doses-of-covid-19-vaccines
You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/conditions-of-authorisation-for-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca
We have published the following petition calling for a related action, which you might like to sign:
Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials: Ban vaccines being administered in a manner not fully tested in clinical trials
The delays to receiving the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine has been implemented by the NHS following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which advises UK health departments on immunisation, which has also been supported by the UK's four Chief Medical Officers. Their new advice and the changes to the Covid-19 vaccination programme are consistent with the temporary authorisations granted for these vaccines by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.
The JCVI, Chief Medical Officers, MHRA and NHS England are all independent and operationally independent of the UK Government, so we cannot accept petitions calling for actions that these bodies are responsible for.
You can read the JCVI's advice on optimising the COVID-19 vaccination programme for maximum short-term impact here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prioritising-the-first-covid-19-vaccine-dose-jcvi-statement/optimising-the-covid-19-vaccination-programme-for-maximum-short-term-impact
You can read the statement from the UK Chief Medical Officers on the prioritisation of first doses of COVID-19 vaccines here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/statement-from-the-uk-chief-medical-officers-on-the-prioritisation-of-first-doses-of-covid-19-vaccines
You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/conditions-of-authorisation-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine
You can read the MHRA's conditions of Authorisation for COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca/conditions-of-authorisation-for-covid-19-vaccine-astrazeneca
Timeline
| 19 Jan 2021 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 25 Jan 2021 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
21
Status
Rejected
Rejected
25 Jan 2021
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.