It’s a turnaround. Boris Johnson’s government has announced that it has abandoned plans to introduce a vaccine passport to access nightclubs and other busy places in England.
“I never liked the idea of telling people to show their papers (…) to do what is just a routine activity ”, said Health Minister Sajid Javid at the BBC. “We have seen it as it should be, and while we should keep it in reserve as a potential option, I am happy to say that we are not going to proceed with our vaccine passport project.”, he added.
The turnaround comes as the executive repeated this week its intention to introduce a vaccination certificate at the end of September to enter stadiums or nightclubs, attracting strong criticism from the nightlife sector and MPs from both conservative and opposition majority.
Success of vaccination despite the surge in contamination
Sajid Javid estimated that such a measure was ultimately not necessary, despite a daily number of positive cases around 40,000 in recent days, given a high rate of vaccination in the United Kingdom. Almost 81% of the population over 16 received two doses.
As each constituent nation of the country has jurisdiction over anti-Covid restrictions, Scotland, for its part, decided to introduce, from 1er October, a vaccination certificate to access nightclubs and certain events, in order to curb the increase in cases attributed to the start of the school year.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson must detail, in the coming days, his battle plan in the fight against the coronavirus for the winter period. According to the British press, mass vaccination should remain the main focus, with the deployment of a booster program and a decision on the possible administration of vaccines to young people aged 12 to 15 years.
Mr. Javid has also indicated his intention to delete ” as soon as possible “ the obligation for doubly vaccinated travelers from certain countries to undergo an expensive PCR screening test no later than two days after their arrival in England.
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