Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of the potential barriers to international travel experienced by fully vaccinated UK citizens as a result of the institution and country in which their covid-19 vaccine was produced, including at the Serum Institute for India; and what discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and (b) international counterparts on that matter.

All doses used in the UK have been subject to rigorous safety and quality checks, including individual batch testing and physical site inspections, by the medicines regulator, the MHRA. 5 million doses of AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria deployed in the UK were manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. There have been incorrect reports that this is Covishield. This is untrue. No Covishield vaccines have been administered in the UK. All AstraZeneca/Vaxzevria deployed in the UK - regardless of site of manufacture - is the same product and appears on the NHS COVID Pass as Vaxzevria. The European Medicines Agency has authorised this vaccine and we are confident travel should not be affected.

Where there have been isolated instances of confusion about what vaccines have been deployed in the UK, officials have worked closely with other departments and international partners to clarify what vaccines have been deployed in the UK.