PART 5Contracts: required terms
F4Patients who should not be tested for, or vaccinated against, coronavirus: confirmation of exemption22A
1
Subject to paragraph (6), a contract must contain a term which requires the contractor to respond to a valid exemption confirmation request F2if it is made at a relevant time.
2
An exemption confirmation request—
a
is a request to confirm whether a relevant patient (“P”), for clinical reasons—
i
should neither be tested for coronavirus nor vaccinated with an authorised vaccine, or
ii
should not be vaccinated with an authorised vaccine, and
b
is valid if it is made in accordance with the process approved by the Secretary of State F5.
F12A
A valid exemption confirmation request is made at a relevant time if, at the time the request is made to the contractor—
a
legislation in force in England requires a person or class of person to be vaccinated against coronavirus unless they can show that, for clinical reasons, they are exempt from vaccination with an authorised vaccine, or
b
guidance issued by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State provides that a person or class of person should be vaccinated against coronavirus unless they can show that, for clinical reasons, they are exempt from vaccination with an authorised vaccine.
3
An exemption confirmation request may be made by—
a
P, or
b
where P is a person to whom paragraph (4) applies, an appropriate person acting on behalf of P.
4
This paragraph applies to a person if they—
a
are a child, or
b
lack the capacity to make a request under paragraph (1).
5
The contractor must respond to a valid exemption confirmation request F3made at a relevant time—
a
free of charge to P or the appropriate person, and
b
by recording its response on an information hub using a method approved by the Secretary of State.
6
A contractor is not required to respond to a valid exemption confirmation request if—
a
for the medical condition which may mean that P should neither be tested for coronavirus nor vaccinated with an authorised vaccine, or should not be vaccinated with an authorised vaccine, P is being attended by a medical practitioner who is not—
i
engaged or employed by the contractor,
ii
in the case of a contract with two or more persons practising in partnership, one of those persons, or
iii
in the case of a contract with a company limited by shares, one of the persons legally or beneficially owning shares in that company, and
b
that medical condition is not one to which paragraph (7) applies.
7
This paragraph applies to a medical condition if no person with that condition should be—
a
tested for coronavirus or vaccinated with an authorised vaccine, or
b
vaccinated with an authorised vaccine.
8
In this regulation—
“authorised vaccine” means a medicinal product—
- a
authorised for supply in the United Kingdom in accordance with a marketing authorisation, or
- b
authorised by the licensing authority on a temporary basis under regulation 174 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (supply in response to spread of pathogenic agents etc),
for vaccination against coronavirus;
- a
“coronavirus” means severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2);
“licensing authority”, “marketing authorisation” and “medicinal product” have the meanings given in the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 (see regulations 6, 8 and 2, respectively, of those Regulations);
“relevant patient” means—
- a
a registered patient, or
- b
a temporary resident.
- a