Request ID: FOI-3323-2324 Date published: 17 January 2024
You asked
Good Morning,
I would like to have the following information provided to me please regarding the following :
Can you please advise what risk assessments TFL carried out for determining that COVID 19 vaccines are safe?
Can you please advise what risk assessments TFL carried out for determining that antigen tests are safe?
Can you please advise how much money TFL has spent on COVID 19 tests?
Can you please advise how much money TFL has spent on COVID signs?
Can you please advise how much money TFL has spent on COVID masks?
We answered
TfL Ref: 3323-2324
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 18 December 2023 asking for information about Covid vaccines,tests and signage costs.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. Your questions and our replies are as follows:
Can you please advise what risk assessments TFL carried out for determining that COVID 19 vaccines are safe?TfL did not give Covid 19 vaccines and therefore there were no risk assessments. We relayed public health messages with regards to the availability of immunisation.
Can you please advise what risk assessments TFL carried out for determining that antigen tests are safe? We did not carry out any risk assessments. Please refer to our previous FOI responses where we advised that concerns with regards to the presence of ethylene oxidewere the subject of an FOI request to the government to which they responded as follows:
MHRA is aware of concerns about the safety of using ethylene oxide (EO) to sterilise the swabs used in coronavirus testing kits (including lateral flow tests). Ethylene oxide is a gas that is commonly used to sterilise many different types of medical devices, including swabs used in test kits. The sterilisation process consists of a number of highly controlled and monitored stages, including removing ethylene oxide after treating the swabs. The amount of residual EO that is allowed has been set (by the international standard ISO 10993-7:2008) according to contact time of the medical device with the person. Contact time is divided into 3 categories: limited, prolonged, and permanent duration.
The swabs used in lateral flow test kits fall under the category of limited contact time.These allowable limits were selected to ensure that any residual levels present on the medical device after sterilisation pose minimal risk.
Can you please advise how much money TFL has spent on COVID masks? Mask spend to date is£4,076,726
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
