Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the risk to public health caused by people who have been fully vaccinated against covid-19 travelling together in an aircraft with high efficiency particulate air filters in use; and if he will make a statement.

Vaccination greatly reduces transmission and two doses provide a very high degree of protection against serious illness and death. Air conditioning systems on modern aircraft filter cabin air every few minutes through High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. These filters are very effective at capturing airborne microbes in the filtered air and, when coupled with the drawn in fresh air, can help to mitigate the longer-range risk of transmission.