Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce covid-19 vaccine passports.

On 22 February, the Government committed to explore whether and how COVID-19 status certification might be used to reopen the economy, reduce restrictions on social contact and improve safety. COVID-19 status certification aims to provide reassurance that an individual is at reduced risk of transmission.

The Government believes that status certification could have an important role to play both domestically and internationally, as a temporary measure. Equally, the Government wants to be sure that the benefits of any such approach are fully interrogated in public debate and that the deliverability of status certification is rigorously tested, along with analysis of the potential economic impacts that certification would have across different settings. We will continue to gather evidence on the extent to which COVID-19 status certification is an effective measure to control the epidemic and reduce hospitalisations and deaths. The Government will set out its conclusions from the review in advance of Step 4 of the roadmap in order to inform the safe reopening of society and the economy.