Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to (a) help ensure that there is mutual recognition of covid-19 vaccine records from countries outside the EU and (b) ensure that people who have been double-vaccinated abroad with a certified vaccine can obtain a covid-19 vaccine pass in the UK.

Those who are fully vaccinated from over 135 countries and territories will no longer need to quarantine or take a day eight test when arriving in the United Kingdom. Over 80 countries and territories have already accepted UK COVID-19 certificates, including the NHS COVID Pass, to demonstrate an individual’s status, including vaccination records and proof of recovery following a positive National Health Service polymerase chain reaction test.

The NHS Covid Pass programme has now linked with the European Union Digital COVID Certificate, ensuring that the UK and EU can digitally verify each other's vaccination status certificates. This also provides access to non-EU countries such as Norway, Switzerland, Israel and Iceland.

A pilot was launched in England on 30 September to enable residents vaccinated abroad to request that their vaccines are uploaded to the national database. Vaccines equivalent to those UK-approved, regulated by the European Medicines Agency, Health Canada, Swissmedic, the Therapeutic Goods Administration and United States Food and Drug Administration be recorded on an NHS COVID Pass.