Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to enable people enrolled on the Novavax covid-19 vaccine trial to access an international NHS covid-19 pass for the purposes of travel.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All Novavax clinical trial participants in England and Wales can access their domestic COVID Pass through the NHS App or online through NHS.UK.
As of 21 September, approximately two thirds of Novavax trial participants in England, can present their vaccination information through the NHS COVID Pass for travel purposes. Work is ongoing to ensure that all clinical trial participants can access an NHS COVID Pass for travel in the near future.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish the methodology used by the Joint Biosecurity Centre when deciding to add a country to the covid-19 red list for international travel.
Answered by Maggie Throup
Information on the methodology used by the Joint Biosecurity Centre is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
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 reassess South Africa’s red list categorisation in response to South Africa’s low covid-19 infection rate.
Answered by Maggie Throup
All countries, including South Africa, are continually monitored as part of the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s assessments which are reviewed every three weeks.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to allow people who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 arriving into England from amber destinations to avoid the need for self-isolation from 19 July 2021.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Certain categories of international arrivals who are fully vaccinated do not have to quarantine or take a day 8 test when travelling from ‘amber list’ countries. This currently includes individuals vaccinated under the United Kingdom vaccine rollout and travellers who have been vaccinated in the United States or European Union with a European Medicines Agency, Swissmedic or United States Food and Drug Administration authorised vaccine.
Travellers will still be required to take a pre-departure test and a test on day two, with any positive results requiring isolation in line with domestic social distancing regulations. This will be sequenced to continue to manage the risk of importing variants.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the (a) Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risk assessment data for the entire covid-19 traffic light list and (b) risk assessment status of all countries and destinations on green, amber and red lists.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Decisions to place countries on the ‘red’, ‘amber’ or ‘green’ lists are taken by Ministers informed by evidence, including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risk assessments alongside other wider public health factors. We are unable to provide the advice, evidence and methodology which informs these decisions as it relates to the on-going development of Government policy. However, further information on the data informing international travel risk assessments is available at the following link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/data-informing-international-travel-risk-assessments
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the evidential basis supporting the decision to advise against travel to amber destinations for leisure purposes in order to protect public health.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We are unable to provide the information requested as it relates to the formulation of Government policy. Decisions regarding travel advice are informed by the data within the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risks assessments alongside wider public health factors, including the percentage of a country’s population that have been vaccinated; the rate of infection; the prevalence of variants of concern; and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will urgently commission research into the Beta variant of covid-19.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England has published a paper into the Beta variant, ‘Evidence of escape of SARS-CoV-2 variant B.1.351 from natural and vaccine-induced sera’, which is available at the following link:
The National Institute for Health Research has funded studies looking at specific aspects of variants of concern, including the Beta variant. The studies are in progress and details will be published in due course.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the covid-19 outbreak, whether his Department has conducted a recent analysis of the (a) transmissibility of the Beta variant compared with the Alpha variant, (b) severity of disease caused by the Beta variant compared with the Alpha variant and (c) ability of the Beta variant to evade the AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccine.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Public Health England’s (PHE) data published on 11 June shows that transmissibility of the Beta variant is similar to Alpha in the United Kingdom. PHE monitors the epidemiology and growth rate of all variants of concern in England. PHE also monitors the case fatality ratio of all variants of concern in England. The current case fatality ratio in England is similar between Alpha and Beta amongst those individuals who have completed 28 day follow up.
PHE’s risk assessment of 1 April 2021 states that there is evidence of reduced ability of vaccinated individuals to neutralise the virus, across vaccines. Evidence suggests the magnitude of this effect is larger for Beta, compared to Gamma or Alpha. There is clinical trial evidence of decreased effectiveness in humans for preventing mild to moderate infection with Beta variant. This varies by vaccine. PHE reviews and updates the variant risk assessment.
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the public health advice on which the latest review of the Government’s foreign travel covid-19 traffic light system was based.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Decisions to designate countries as either ‘red’, ‘amber’ or ‘green’ on the ‘traffic light’ system are taken by the Government to protect public health. They are informed by evidence including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risks assessments alongside wider public health factors. We are unable to provide the advice, evidence and methodology which informs these decisions as it relates to the on-going development of Government policy. However, further information on the data informing international travel risk assessments is available at the following link:
Asked by: Ben Bradshaw (Labour - Exeter)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the public health advice on which the decision not to place Malta on the green list in the Government’s latest review of its covid-19 traffic light system.
Answered by Jo Churchill - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Decisions to designate countries, such as Malta, as either ‘red’, ‘amber’ or ‘green’ on the ‘traffic light’ system are taken by the Government to protect public health. They are informed by evidence including the Joint Biosecurity Centre’s risks assessments alongside wider public health factors. We are unable to provide the advice, evidence and methodology which informs these decisions as it relates to the on-going development of Government policy. However, further information on the data informing international travel risk assessments is available at the following link: