Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of (a) extending access for 12 to 17 year olds to a second dose of the covid-19 vaccine and (b) making it possible for 12 to 17 year olds to be able to prove that they have had the virus on the covid-19 travel passport to enable those people to travel to countries that require proof of double vaccination.

On 15 November 2021, the Government accepted advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to offer a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccination to all 16 and 17-year-olds. On 29 November 2021, the Government accepted further advice from the JCVI to offer all 12-17-year-olds a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, with the second dose being offered at a minimum of 12 weeks from their first dose, or 12 weeks after testing positive for COVID-19 infection.

The NHS COVID Pass has been available for people aged 16 or over to demonstrate their COVID-19 status for travel purposes since 17 May 2021. Since 13 December 2021, children in England aged 12-15-years-old who have had a full course of COVID-19 vaccination are eligible for an NHS COVID Pass letter for travel with an internationally recognised 2D barcode, following the decision to offer two doses of vaccine to all 12-15-year-olds in the United Kingdom. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/nhs-covid-pass-for-12-15-year-olds-for-international-travel

Since 3 February 2021, children in England have been able to prove their vaccination or proof of prior infection via a digital NHS COVID Pass for outbound travel. The COVID Pass is available via the NHS.UK website for those aged 12 and over and via the NHS App for those aged 13 and over. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/get-digital-covid-pass/