POS-2026-3004: Harmonised assessment of risk groups for vaccine prioritisation

Although the factors that put individuals at risk of severe illness are often shared across vaccine-preventable diseases, they are usually defined on a disease-by-disease basis. Building on our prior work in OpenSAFELY assessing risk factors for COVID-19-related mortality, this project will apply a consistent approach to assess the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases across different subgroups of the population. We will assess established risk groups (e.g., older age, chronic disease, immunosuppression) alongside groups not currently prioritised for additional routine or seasonal vaccination (e.g., severe mental illness, learning difficulties). We will initially focus on existing vaccine-preventable disease (influenza, COVID-19, RSV, shingles) and establish workflows that could be rapidly implemented for emerging health protection threats. Our findings will help work out how the NHS can best use vaccines to reduce the risk of infections, hospitalisation, and death from preventable infectious diseases.