Covid UK: Boris Johnson says pubgoers WON’T need ‘vaccine passport’

Boris Johnson today promised Britons will not need to carry a ‘vaccine passport’ to go to the pub when the country eventually escapes lockdown.

The Prime Minister shot down reports the controversial scheme is being looked at as a tactic to keep the economy open when restrictions are finally lifted. 

But he conceded that some form of proof of vaccination will likely be needed to get international travel back up and running in the future.  

During a visit to a community vaccination centre in Orpington, South East London, today, the PM said: ‘I think inevitably there will be great interest in ideas like can you show that you had a vaccination against Covid in the way that you sometimes have to show you have had a vaccination against Yellow Fever or other diseases in order to travel somewhere.

‘I think that is going to be very much in the mix down the road, I think that is going to happen. What I don’t think we will have in this country is – as it were – vaccination passports to allow you to go to, say, the pub or something like that.’ 

Matt Hancock echoed the Prime Minister’s comments, saying the UK was ‘working’ with countries looking at banning unvaccinated travellers. The Health Secretary said the Governments ‘wants Brits to be able to travel’.

The vaccine passport scheme has been mired in confusion since it was first touted in late December.

Eight firms have been awarded Government grants to develop the technology but No10 has repeatedly said such documents will not be introduced in the UK.   

There have also been a series of contradictory statements from ministers about how the scheme would be used, with Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab yesterday hinting it could be deployed in supermarkets and the hospitality sector. 

Critics say a passport-style scheme would be ‘discriminatory’ and make the voluntary jabs mandatory by proxy. 

The Prime Minister also said that he expects there to be an increase in ‘rapid testing’ as more of the population is vaccinated and the UK comes out of its lockdown.

Mr Johnson said: ‘Looking at the future, what we hope to have is such a high proportion of the population vaccinated that when you couple that with rapid testing – lateral flow testing – you really start to get the kind of answers that you’re talking about.

‘So I think it’s in the context of … having vaccinated a lot of the population, as we’re already doing – and we’ll do a lot more of in the next few months – that the rapid test approach will start, I think, to come into its own.’

Echoing his comments, Mr Hancock told Sky News: ‘There are some countries around the world that are considering bringing in rules saying you can only travel if you have been vaccinated – these aren’t in place yet but there are countries who are actively floating this idea and proposing it.

‘In that case, it will be important for people from the UK to be able to show whether or not they have been vaccinated in order to travel, so we are working with countries around the world on the basis for this and how that vaccine certification can happen in a way that can be assured. 

‘We want Brits to be able to travel to those countries and therefore enable Brits to be able to demonstrate their vaccine status, so that sort of vaccine certification is something we are talking to our international counterparts about and there are people who are arguing that is the right way to have safe global travel again because obviously that’s very restricted at the moment.’

The World Health Organization’s special envoy for the global Covid response, has also said he expects ‘some sort’ of Covid vaccine passport will be introduced in future.

Dr David Nabarro said: ‘I am absolutely certain in the next few months we will get a lot of movement and what are the conditions around which people are easily able to move from place to place, so some sort of vaccine certificate no doubt will be important.’

He added that countries would only be able to form ‘bubbles’ for travel purposes if they both had the same standards of coronavirus restrictions and similar levels of vaccination uptake.

Dr Nabarro told Sky News transparency over Covid measures between countries was key to keeping an eye out for new variants of the virus.

He said: ‘That’s going to be with us for the foreseeable future, because even when much higher proportions of the population are vaccinated, there are still going to be these worrying moments when perhaps a version of the virus appears that can break through the defences provided by the vaccine.’

He said the British situation was ‘looking really good’ but warned there was still a lot of work to be done to work out how lockdown could be lifted safely.

Last week it emerged at least eight firms have been awarded Government grants to develop schemes that would allow users to carry digital proof that they have received an approved Covid-19 jab. 

The projects, given a total of £450,000 between them, aim to provide a way to get people back to work and reopen international travel without the risk of fuelling the pandemic.

The grants have been dished out by InnovateUK, a non-departmental public agency which claims it ‘operates at arm’s length from the Government’. 

Logifect, a Kent firm handed £62,000 in grants, has designed a phone app linking to a digital passport that includes a photo of them. It is due to launch next month.

London-based iProov and Mvine, in Surrey, have been given £75,000 for their joint effort, according to the newspaper. They are developing digital ‘certificates’ that would provide people with confirmation of their vaccinations. 

Executives at all three firms have said they plan to pitch their technologies to the Government before the current national lockdown ends. 

Another of the recipient projects is led by Enduring Net, which is working on a £49,678 decentralised system that can digitally provide ‘proofs of individuals’ Covid-19 credentials’, which will include proof of vaccination.

EAS Technologies’ project was given £173,876 to develop an accreditation platform that hopes to be used by organisers of the ‘world’s largest sporting organisations, events, and facilities’.

A short description on the funding page suggests the project will be used for proving staff and contractors at events have been vaccinated, but could also provide a ‘track and trace’ system for those attending the events.  

It comes amid claims major City firms are expecting to start using digital health passports from next month to help get staff back to offices.

Covid-19 testing firm Prenetics has signed deals with around 100 companies – including investment banks based at Canary Wharf in London – to help get staff back to work safely.

Employees using its Digital Health Passport will download an app onto their mobile phone, which will store results of their Covid tests and vaccine certificates when they have had their jabs.

Meanwhile, Spain‘s tourism minister has fuelled hopes Britons could go on holiday this summer with ‘vaccine passports’. 

Fernando Valdes has reportedly raised the prospect that travel could resume within months due to the success of the UK’s rollout. 

He also played down the idea that holidaymakers would have to quarantine when they arrived in Spain, saying there are ‘other means’ of limiting spread.

The optimistic comments emerged as the government steps up work on a system of ‘vaccine passports’ that could free those who have had jabs from the draconian restrictions on travel.

UK ministers have refused to be drawn on when holidays might be back on the agenda, amid mixed messages on whether anyone should be looking to book at this stage.