Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of providing those under 16 with an NHS Covid Pass to evidence their vaccination status for travel overseas.

A small proportion of children over 12 years old have or will receive full vaccination following the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation’s advice. International standards for travel require a full course to be recognised as ‘fully vaccinated’. While there are some countries which require full vaccination for under 16 year olds, others treat under 16 year olds as fully vaccinated, accept testing, or in a small number of cases accept recovery as equivalent to full vaccination. We are exploring ways to provide fully vaccinated 12 to 15 year olds with a travel NHS COVID Pass.