GPs to authenticate Covid jabs of patients vaccinated abroad, says vaccines minister

Patients who received their Covid vaccine overseas will soon be asked to approach their GP to have it registered, the vaccines minister has said.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday last week, Nadhim Zahawi said that UK nationals vaccinated abroad will be able to ask their GP to verify that their jab is ‘approved’ in the UK ‘by the end of this month’.

The vaccination will then be registered with the NHS, enabling patients to travel to amber list countries and avoid quarantine like UK citizens who have been vaccinated by the NHS, he added.

He told MPs: ‘By the end of this month, UK nationals who have been vaccinated overseas will be able to talk to their GP, go through what vaccine they have had, and have it registered with the NHS that they have been vaccinated. 

‘The reason for the conversation with the GP is to make sure that whatever vaccine they have had is approved in the United Kingdom.’

Mr Zahawi also indicated that non-British travellers who have been fully-vaccinated with a jab authorised in the UK could eventually have the same privileges.

He said: ‘Ultimately, there will be a coordination between the World Health Organisation, ourselves, the European regulator, the US regulator and other regulators around the world. 

‘Because we are working at speed, at the moment it is UK nationals and citizens who have had UK vaccinations who will be able to travel to amber list countries other than France and come back and not quarantine. We want to offer the same reciprocity as the 33 countries that recognise our app, and that will also happen very soon.’

Patients taking part in clinical trials for vaccines not yet approved in the UK will also appear on the NHS Covid app as being ‘fully vaccinated, whether they are receiving the placebo or the vaccine, across all trials’, he said.

It comes as local GP leaders have expressed their intention to continue with self-isolation requirements for practice staff, despite new government guidance saying healthcare staff can continue working if identified as a Covid contact.  

The BMA warned on Friday that allowing double-jabbed NHS staff, including GPs, to avoid self-isolation upon becoming a Covid contact is ‘desperate and potentially unsafe’. 

Meanwhile, GPs are facing pressure from patients who want their second Covid jab before eight weeks to go on holiday.