Will the Minister provide more details about vaccinating teenagers aged 12 to 18? Why is the UK not following other countries' lead in vaccinating all adolescents in this age group?

How does the government plan to manage testing capacity, especially during school reopenings? What are the plans for multi-pathogen testing this winter?

Can the government clarify the process behind a 'random' clinical trial that involved key ministers, including the Prime Minister and Chancellor?

The MP thanked the Minister and condemned harassment of police officers. He questioned the number of teenagers to be vaccinated, the lack of immediate vaccination for all 12 to 18-year-olds, and the clinical basis for JCVI's decision. The shadow also asked about plans for schools reopening in September, PCR testing capacity during the school return period, multi-pathogen testing investment, and NHS isolation policies.

The MP raised concerns about the NHS testing system changes that require frontline staff to apply for seven-day supplies of lateral flow tests instead of three months' supply, leading to more waste and work.

The MP welcomed clarity from JCVI but questioned vaccine supply assurance, methods to persuade unvaccinated younger adults, and UK Government responsibility for potential consequences of current public health measures. He also criticised attempts by the party colleagues in Scotland to politicize the vaccine roll-out.

Expresses concerns about the timing of introducing covid vaccine passports for nightclubs by September end, questioning why waiting until then rather than implementing them sooner to prevent additional cases. Also inquires about replacing self-isolation requirement with a negative PCR test requirement.

Asks for guarantees that schools will reopen fully and safely in September, despite potential new restrictions due to rising cases. Questions the decision not to vaccinate all teenagers.

Highlights ongoing concern with variants of covid-19, questioning the concept of 'freedom day' amid confusion due to NHS app pings and increasing numbers isolating; enquires if police are included in critical workers who do not need to isolate.

Praises the Catch Up with Cancer campaign for their work pressing for ring-fenced investment in NHS cancer infrastructure; questions future protection measures for immunocompromised groups post-vaccination.

Expresses concern among constituents about potential wrong batch of AstraZeneca vaccine, seeks reassurance that no British traveller will be turned away at the border.

Concerned about lifting mitigations amid escalating cases, 12 million unvaccinated individuals, and exhausted NHS workforce; asks for estimates on impact of mask-wearing three weeks after 80% vaccination.

Highlights rapid rise in coronavirus cases but low death rate due to successful vaccination programme; questions if society must learn to live with the virus like other endemic infections.

Due to the pandemic, about 5 million people in the UK are waiting for hospital treatment. The NHS is under pressure, but some people opt for private healthcare due to long waits. Shouldn't the NHS use all available capacity to reduce this backlog?

What is limiting the daily vaccination rate from being sustained at a higher level? Are considerations given to reward systems used in other countries?

The Minister thanked others for the vaccine programme efforts. How effective will vaccinating those aged 12-17 prove in limiting school spread, and what discussions have there been with Education Ministers?

What is the scientific basis for lifting most restrictions from July 19th but delaying full freedom until August 16th despite high vaccination rates?

Despite the UK having high case numbers, delays in accessing PCR tests and long turnaround times hinder public health efforts. How many daily PCR tests will be needed if cases reach 200,000?

Can the Minister confirm a full impact assessment was completed before making it compulsory for care home staff to be vaccinated, despite this being contentious and marking a major policy shift?

Why does the Government persist in using lateral flow devices instead of domestic diagnostics which excel in both symptomatic and asymptomatic settings?

What are the results of the test-to-release experiment and how might it affect businesses struggling due to staff shortages?

We all want to see the back of this pandemic and life return to normality. History will no doubt judge the wisdom or otherwise of “freedom day” at this point in time. I wish to focus on long covid, because it is a fact that the more covid there is, the more long covid there will be. At its worst, it is debilitating. It is just awful, and I know that because I am still suffering with it, after 16 months. If the balance of risk is more long covid, may I ask the Minister what more his Government will do to help those with it in their health recovery, to help employers impacted by an ill workforce and in providing social security for those on the long-term sick with long covid?

The Minister is aware of my reservations about asking children to be vaccinated where it may provide only very marginal benefit to them, but this relies on the importance of informed consent and people being given all the right information. Can he confirm, first, that where children with medical conditions are being offered the vaccine, the risk posed to that child from a serious effect from covid is greater than the risk to that child posed by any vaccine? Can he also confirm that, where children are being asked to be vaccinated to protect an adult who may be vulnerable for whatever reason, those parents, carers and the child will be provided with the absolute—not relative—risk reduction for those individuals they are being asked to be vaccinated for?

The Health Secretary was double jabbed and got infected. In Swansea Bay, 18% of those infected in June were double jabbed and 31% were single jabbed. So does the Minister accept that freedom day is not the freedom to infect others, that masks and social distancing remain vital and that jabs are stopping people from dying? Will he confirm that he is not pursuing a policy of herd immunity, which would overwhelm the NHS and leave a massive legacy of long covid, disabling our economy?

I have to say that I do not welcome the Minister’s statement, particularly his announcement of compulsory vaccine passports for crowded venues, which is effectively moving to compulsory vaccination. However, I look forward to the debate and the vote in Parliament in September when he will bring forward the evidence, because I do not think that that policy is supported by the events pilots that have taken place. I want to ask the Minister about the self-isolation regime. It is important for public confidence that it is supported by evidence. It is the same regime that we had before we had any vaccination or before we had any lateral flow tests, and the Government seem to accept that logic because they are going to move to a new, more sensible model on 16 August. I listened carefully to his multiple answers to colleagues on both sides of the House, but I am afraid he could not really explain why we were waiting until 16 August. All the things that will be true on 16 August about the reduced risk for those who are fully vaccinated of getting infected also apply today. I urge him to bring forward that announcement and those measures to today or this week; do not leave them to 16 August.

Come September, the settings that will be most vulnerable to covid will be schools. School classrooms are going to have a higher percentage of non-vaccinated people than anywhere else. The Government have scrapped the need for face masks and the bubbling system, and they have now forbidden schools and nurseries from doing in-house track and trace and forced them on to the failing nationwide track and trace system. I understand why we need to be really sensitive and cautious about vaccinating young people aged 12-plus, and I am cognisant of the comments made by the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson). However, in other areas, the JCVI has ensured that we are at the forefront of the global vaccination programme. Could the Minister explain the conversations he has been having with the JCVI as to why the Government are being so cautious in this regard? Will he explain to the House when the JCVI will give updated advice, because really those young people should be vaccinated over the summer if it is safe?

It is good to see the Minister still standing on this freedom day, when it feels like half the Cabinet has been struck down, knocked out or whatever it is. Does he agree that, at a time when worryingly we hear of increased threats to vaccination centres, be they from the vile anti-vax propagandists outside this building right now or even people so keen to get jabbed that they leave vaccinators feeling vulnerable, nobody should feel intimidated when seeking perfectly legal healthcare? Does he also agree that there is scope for investigating an offence of violence towards NHS professionals, whether verbal or physical, in such a setting? It would bring the law into line with the “protect the protectors” legislation we already have for ambulance staff and the police. That was suggested to me by the Florence Nightingale nursing trainees I met last week. If he did that, he would be a hero among them—even though they did not get their pay rise. What does he think?

We cannot ignore the slight reduction in vaccine uptake in the past couple of weeks, which is in spite of the fantastic work being done across Keighley and Ilkley to deal with this, including at the Silsden medical practice, Keighley’s central mosque and Airedale Hospital, which this week are providing walk-in services for young people to get their vaccine. Will my hon. Friend join me in encouraging all those who have not yet taken up the offer of the vaccine to do so to prevent transmission and to help protect themselves and others?

As the Minister will know, I have long campaigned for a vaccine passport to enable individuals, society and the economy to speed up the return to normality, so I very much welcome the long-overdue and realistic NHS covid pass, but how will the Minister ensure take-up? Will he tell us which venues will be included and—equally importantly—whether any sporting, hospitality or leisure venues will be excluded?

The now famous test and release pilot was first announced on 29 April. Is the lack of any results from that pilot, nearly three months after it started, a failure on the part of Public Health England, or are the results being suppressed because the Minister might be concerned that NHS Test and Trace does not have the testing capacity available to make test and release available to everyone?

The Minister has proved himself to be helpful and thoughtful in the way he has handled his brief, but will he tell us what research there has been into the impact of long covid on younger people? If in the end long covid is an issue not simply for adults but for children as well, will that affect the way we assess the need for a vaccination programme for young children?

In addition to holidaymakers, hundreds of UK citizens want to go to France, a country with a much lower infection rate than the United Kingdom, to visit family, and there are also hundreds of UK citizens—expats—who wish to visit families in the United Kingdom. As a result of the decision taken by the Department of Health and Social Care, all those people now face exorbitant test costs and isolation when they come into the United Kingdom. The House of Commons has an excellent test system that generates a result within around 30 minutes and is reliable. Will my hon. Friend, who is the most effective of Ministers, use his influence to make sure that at the very least people who come back into the United Kingdom and have to be tested can do so at a reasonable and not disproportionate cost?