Over the last year, 15,000 people in the UK selflessly volunteered to take part in a Covid-19 vaccine trial for NovaVax.

After almost a year, UK volunteers who joined the NovaVax Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial remain significantly disadvantaged if they want to travel overseas. We call on the Minister to act now to rectify this situation. As foreign governments cannot be forced to accept proof of NovaVax we need the UK government to make it easy for volunteers to get two doses of an NHS approved vaccine and produce the required evidence that they have done so.

The problem facing the UK NovaVax volunteers:

1. A number of countries will not allow UK visitors to enter unless they can demonstrate double vaccination with an approved vaccine (NovaVax is not approved and we have no idea when it will be).
2. Volunteers are blocked by the NHS from getting an approved vaccine.
3. GPs and clinical trial doctors are unable to override the NHS app software removing the NovaVax details.
4. Boosters are expected to complicate the picture further.
5. No guidance is forthcoming from NIHR, NHS or Government about how to do so.
6. All this poses severe obstructions for volunteers who need to travel for work, family, or holiday purposes.

Action required now.

We call on the ministers to rectify the situation immediately so that NovaVax volunteers can travel as freely as other vaccinated people.