Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has been made in (a) validating UK-approved vaccines administered overseas and (b) creating the data flows so that people residing in England who have received their covid-19 vaccinations outside of the UK can apply for an NHS COVID Pass; and what his timeframe is for completion of the NHS app upgrade.

Since 30 September a pilot process has been in place for overseas vaccinations to be recorded in the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) and through the NHS COVID Pass. The pilot involved three vaccination sites in England with more opening as the pilot phase moves to national deployment. By the end of October, one vaccination site in every region in England will offer this service and subject to the pilot’s findings, it will be publicly available from mid-November. Currently any Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Janssen or Moderna vaccinations administered by the European Medicines Agency, the Food and Drug Administration or Swissmedic will be will be recorded via the NIMS and the NHS COVID Pass. Once the pilot is complete an evidence review will take place which will consider timeframes for completion of the NHS App upgrade.