By Hospitality sector warns having to show a certificate to enter premises would be unworkable and discriminatory.
‘Pub passports’ are the latest thing to be talked about for the roadmap out of Covid, but concerns have been raised as this could be seen as discriminatory and unfair towards some who cannot have a vaccine for medical reasons or chosen not to.
Boris Johnson said on Thursday that vaccine certification may only be introduced once all British adults have been offered coronavirus jabs.
Since then Boris has faced an angry backlash from the hospitality sector over his apparent backing for a plan to introduce “passports for pubs”.
Tory MP Steve Baker said it was a “ghastly trap” and unfairly penalised those advised not to have a vaccine.
Speaking a day after the UK prime minister told MPs that it may be at the discretion of pub landlords to request proof of vaccination before allowing people to enter their premises, Johnson insisted no firm decisions had been taken.
“There is going to be a role for certification,” he told reporters on Thursday. But he added: “You might only be able to implement a thoroughgoing vaccination passport scheme, in the context of when absolutely everybody had been offered a vaccine,”
Boris went on to say “Obviously, we are looking at the issues that are raised by vaccination certification
“There are three basic components.
“There’s the vaccine, there’s your immunity that you might have after you’ve had Covid, and then there’s testing. There are three things that could work together.
“No decisions have been taken at all. One thing I will make clear is on April 12 when it will all be outdoors anyway.”
He added: “All sorts of things are being considered, I really think it’s a bit premature to start talking about that. What we want to do is roll out the vaccine programme and see what that builds in terms of general resistance to the virus.
“There is going to be a role for certification – what we said is we will be reporting on the work of the certification group in early April.”
