Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that individuals who have received both doses of an MHRA-approved covid-19 vaccine outside the UK are subject to the same self-isolation requirements following a close contact with a confirmed positive case as those who received vaccines in the UK.

An individual identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case is exempt from self-isolation if they have received both doses of a Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency-approved vaccine administered in the United Kingdom. The current system for validating the vaccination status of close contacts relies on checking against records in the National Immunisation Management System, which does not record vaccinations administered overseas. We are exploring options to extend the existing exemption to contacts who have completed an approved vaccination programme overseas.