To ask the Minister of Health (i) what timeframe he is proposing for the use of domestic COVID-19 vaccination passports; (ii) whether this timeframe will be related to winter pressures in health and social care settings; (iii) how often he will monitor the effectiveness of the domestic vaccination passport; and (iv) at what point he will consider withdrawing the use of domestic vaccination passports.

At their meeting on 17 November 2021 The Executive agreed to introduce the use of COVID-status Certification from 29 November. The provision for COVID-status Certification was contained within the Executive’s Autumn/Winter Contingency Plan, if required, if cases continued to rise alongside normal winter pressures. As cases and hospitalisations continue to rise and the expected normal winter pressures have put hospital capacities under severe pressure, as seen with examples of ambulances being turned away, the decision has been made to implement these regulations.

As with all regulations engagement will take place with relevant bodies regarding compliance and enforcement. Effectiveness of all Regulations are reviewed every 4 weeks, and as soon as regulations are no longer required they will be removed.