Coronavirus UK: Boris Johnson DROPS pub passports
Boris Johnson DROPS Covid passports for pubs as ministers warn certificates designed to return life to normal might not be ready until Autumn
- Ministers have warned vaccine certificates may not be ready until Autumn
- It comes as Boris Johnson rolled back on plans to enforce passports in pubs
- Expected to announce the need for vaccine certificates at major events
- Britons may need an NHS app to prove they have had the vaccine later this year
Boris Johnson has scrapped plans forcing customers to show a coronavirus vaccine passport to get into pubs and restaurants.
In an eleventh hour u-turn that will come as a shot in the arm to the beleaguered industry, landlords will be allowed to open for outdoor seating-only from April 12 without asking customers for proof they have been vaccinated.
It comes after some 72 MPs had branded the idea ‘divisive and discriminatory’.
But ministers have warned vaccine certificates designed to help Britons get back to normal will not be ready until Autumn.
Entry to festivals and major sporting events will still only be granted to those with either an NHS app or certificate showing they have had a covid jab, the Prime Minister is expected to announce on Monday.
Guidance is expected to reveal music, theatre or sports fans will only be allowed to gather at events by presenting proof of a vaccination.
The news comes as it emerged:
- Daily Covid deaths fell to ten, the lowest number since September 14;
- Trials of vaccination passports will begin at some of the country’s most iconic venues next week, with crowds of up to 21,000 people allowed to gather for the first time in a year;
- Ministers are set to launch a door-to-door vaccination push to help boost take-up among ethnic minorities;
- The Government is preparing to launch a PR offensive to encourage Britons to have staycations in the UK cities;
- Tens of millions of pints of beer are being delivered to the nation’s pubs ahead of the next easing of lockdown in eight days’ time;
Boris Johnson scrapped plans to ask landlords to enforce a pub vaccine passport scheme
Entry to festivals and major sporting events will only be allowed to those with either an NHS app or certificate showing they have had a covid jab, the Prime Minister is expected to announce on Monday (file image)
Millions could go to pubs with no social distancing under plans to let drinkers use mobile phones to prove they are free of Covid. This graphic shows how the app would have worked
Landlords will be allowed to open for outdoor seating-only from April 12 and punters will not need to prove they’re vaccinated, Mr Johnson will announce next week. Pictured, a pub in London Bridge last year
Alternatives for those who are pregnant or otherwise unable to be vaccinated will include proof of a recent negative test, or protection from antibodies because they have had the infection within the last six months, sources suggest.
Michael Gove, who is leading a cross-government consultation on Covid certificates, told The Telegraph: ‘There is a host of practical and ethical questions we have to answer before we can consider a wider rollout.’
Problems include ensuring those without access to a smartphone can provide proof of vaccination and keeping data protected.
Those who cannot get the vaccination must also be given alternative ways to prove they are low risk – whether that’s a recent negative test or doctor’s note revealing sufficient antibodies.
Even if these issues are resolved, senior Government sources said the certificate scheme could take ‘months, not weeks’ to develop.
One source told the newspaper: ‘I don’t expect [the app] to be until much later in the year.’
Meanwhile, nine pilot events are being held over the next few weeks to help policy makers decide how best to unlock Britain.
Mr Johnson said: ‘We are doing everything we can to enable the reopening of our country so people can return to the events, travel and other things they love as safely as possible, and these reviews will play an important role in allowing this to happen.’
The success of high-tech ventilation and covid tests on entry will be trialled at a comedy club, cinema, nightclub and business conference arena in Liverpool next week.
Some fans will be allowed at Wembley for the Carabao Cup final on April 25, the FA Cup final on May 15 and the semi-final on April 18.
The World Snooker Championship in Sheffield and a mass participation run in Hatfield, Herts, will also go ahead with crowds to test the scheme.
Michael Gove, who is leading a cross-government consultation on Covid certificates, told The Telegraph: ‘There is a host of practical and ethical questions we have to answer before we can consider a wider rollout’
A meeting of the cabinet will discuss plans for the end of lockdown on Monday, which will be followed by a press conference hosted by Mr Johnson in the evening.
A ‘social distancing review’ will consider whether the one metre-plus rule and working from home guidance can be lifted under a successful vaccine passport scheme, Number 10 said on Saturday.
It comes as Mr Johnson yesterday welcomed another vaccine milestone after more than five million Britons received their second dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
The total number of people given one jab is now at 31.4million, while the figure for second doses stands at 5,205,505.
Mr Johnson tweeted: ‘We’ve reached another milestone in our vaccination programme with over 5 million people now having had their second jab.
‘I urge everyone to take up their second dose as soon as they are offered it.’
Second doses are being prioritised in April amid a warning that vaccine supplies will fall.
But the government has said it is still on course to offer all adults in the UK a first jab by the end of July.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: ‘I’m delighted that 50% of over-80s have now had their second jab.
‘Thank you to everyone involved in rolling-out the vaccine across the whole UK.’
Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi added: ‘5.2m second doses, our focus is making sure the most vulnerable groups 1-9 get their second doses. That is 99% of mortality.’
He said: ‘Vaccines are an incredibly important part of our route out of lockdown and this pandemic, and it’s vital people take advantage of the protection they provide.
‘No matter who you are, where you live, your race or your religion, I encourage everyone to take up both their vaccinations when offered and help this country get back to normality.’
Dr Nikki Kanani, GP and medical director for primary care at NHS England, praised the ‘tens of thousands of volunteers’ for the success of the vaccine rollout.
She said: ‘The biggest vaccination programme in NHS history – the fastest in Europe – reaches another significant milestone as more than five million people have now received their second dose providing them with the strongest possible protection from serious disease.
Trials of vaccine passports could begin as soon as next month, the Mail can reveal. Pictured: A covid-safe pub lunch
The introduction of vaccine passports is certain to trigger a political row, with MPs issuing a joint statement against the passports. Pictured: Former RAF Flight Sergeant Louis Godwin receives his second injection of the coronavirus vaccine at Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, March 27
‘This success is testament to the tens of thousands of volunteers, everyone working behind the scenes and NHS GPs, nurses and vaccinators who are continuing to offer vaccines to all those who are eligible – so please do come forward for your second dose when called.’
The Department for Health and Social Care said nearly one in 10 of all UK adults have received both doses of a coronavirus vaccine, after the number of people receiving their second jab passed five million.
Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘Our spectacular vaccination programme has now delivered over five million second doses, giving those most vulnerable to Covid – including half of all those aged over 80 – the best possible protection.
‘This is vital so everyone can get the strongest possible protection against Covid-19 as we progress along the road to freedom, allowing us to reclaim the things we love.
‘I want to give a big thank you to all those who have helped us reach this milestone.’
The idea of creating a new ‘Checkpoint Britain’ has led to a fierce cross-party backlash, with 72 MPs signing a pledge to oppose the ‘divisive and discriminatory’ scheme for vaccine passports.
There was also a huge outcry over the plans, with a litany of critics branding the idea as oppressive.
The policy was even criticised by a Government adviser, with Professor Robert West warning they would give people a false sense of security.
The scale of the opposition presents a potential major problem for Mr Johnson if the plans require primary legislation to enact them.
A Whitehall source told the Mail ministers would try to win round furious Tory MPs by reassuring them that any new passport scheme would be temporary.
While no decision has been taken on how long any scheme should last, the source said it was likely to be no more than a year.
‘It will be time-limited and I think the duration of the scheme will be measured in months,’ the source said.
‘The party will not wear any longer.’
Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden defended the idea of so-called ‘Covid status certification’, saying it could help people get back to ‘doing the things they love’, such as going to the theatre or attending live concerts and sports events.
Mr Johnson tweeted: ‘We’ve reached another milestone in our vaccination programme with over 5 million people now having had their second jab’
Mr Dowden stressed that vaccine status is only one element of the scheme, with people also able to show a negative Covid test or prove they have already had the virus to gain entry.
He told the BBC: ‘This is not about a vaccine passport, this is about looking at ways of proving that you are Covid secure, whether you have had a test or had the vaccine.
‘Clearly, no decisions have been made on that, because we have to weigh up different factors, the ethical considerations and so on, but it may be a way of ensuring we can get more people back doing the things they love.’
Meanwhile, covid deaths have fallen to the lowest in six months as the UK records 10 fatalities and and infections drop by 27 per cent in a week to 3,423.
The Government said a further 10 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Saturday, bringing the UK total to 126,826.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have been 150,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
The Government also said that, as of 9am on Saturday, there had been a further 3,423 lab-confirmed cases in the UK. It brings the total to 4,357,091.
Between 28 March 2021 and 3 April 2021, 27,912 people had a confirmed positive test result. This shows a decrease of 28.3 per cent compared to the previous 7 days.
There were 10 deaths within 28 days of a positive test for coronavirus reported on 3 April 2021.
Between 28 March 2021 and 3 April 2021, there have been 254 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.
This shows a decrease of 43.7 per cent compared to the previous 7 days. Numbers for cases and deaths over Easter will be affected by incomplete data plus a longer than usual lag in reporting.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: ‘I’m delighted that 50% of over-80s have now had their second jab’
Furious publicans blast coronavirus vaccine passport scheme as ‘bonkers’, ‘un-British’ and a fraud risk
Pubs, bars and nightclubs were in open revolt against the controversial Government plans that could have seen customers turned away without a ‘vaccine passport’.
More than 20 landlords and industry chiefs, from individual village pub owners to the bosses of some of Britain’s largest chains, damned the idea as ‘unworkable, costly and discriminatory’.
Pub chiefs labelled it as ‘un-British’, saying it was ‘like carrying an identity card’ and infringed on civil liberties.
The ferocious backlash erupted after Boris Johnson suggested pub landlords may be able to demand proof of a Covid vaccination as a condition of entry.
However, the idea – immediately labelled ‘papers for the pub’ – drew outrage from Tory MPs and industry leaders, left furious by the prospect of extra costs and administration just as they are finally getting to reopen following months of closure.
Drinkers outside a pub in London’s Soho on October 17, 2020, the first day after the capital was put into Tier Two restrictions
One boss described the vaccine passport scheme as the ‘maddest thing they’ve come up with yet’, while another labelled it ‘completely bonkers’.
The system would be open to fraud and faked passports, they warned, while staff at the door would have little power to actually enforce such a scheme.
The move also would discriminate against younger people, pregnant women and ethnic minorities, who are less likely to have had the vaccine, they added.
Clive Watson, boss of City Pub Group, which has 48 pubs, said: ‘This proposal is completely bonkers and unworkable. It would create a scramble for the relevant paperwork and would be extremely difficult for door staff to enforce.’
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of Britain’s biggest pub group Greene King, which has 3,100 pubs, said: ‘It would be devastating for pubs. Barring entry to customers who haven’t had a vaccine would be totally unworkable, add significant cost and make pubs unviable.’
Jonathan Neame, chief executive of Shepherd Neame, which has 300 pubs, said: ‘We should not be putting up new barriers just as our freedom is restored and society starts to reconnect.’
Anger at the vaccine passport scheme was shared by landlords running small businesses.
Gareth Dore, owner of two venues including the Cellar Club bar in Leamington Spa, said: ‘After a year of no profit and mounting costs, I will not be turning more people away by asking for a vaccine passport at my venues.
‘None of this is needed to go in supermarkets or shops. The industry is on its knees and we’re all fed up of being unfairly picked on.’
Boris Johnson suggested pub landlords may be able to demand proof of a Covid vaccination as a condition of entry
Lauren Hawes, landlady of The Great Northern Pub in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, said: ‘Pregnant women might not have had a vaccine. Imagine someone going out with their partner for an evening out and she gets rejected purely for being pregnant.’
Unions raised fears of a black market for doses fuelled by demand from the under-50s.
Dan Shears, a director at GMB, which represents hospitality workers, said: ‘This will lead to pressure on GPs to fast-track younger patients, false certificates, potential violence for pub workers and even a black market for vaccine doses.’
Businesses in the leisure sector also raised their opposition. John O’Reilly, chief executive of Rank, which runs 152 casinos and bingo halls, said: ‘Our customers know our venues are safe and the last thing they want to see are more hurdles which will prevent them from having a good time.’
The return of crowds: 21,000 for the FA Cup final, 3,000 inside a nightclub and 1,000 at an open-air cinema – all monitored by scientists in an extraordinary mass vaccine passports experiment
By Anna Mikhailova and Alex Lawson For The Mail On Sunday
Trials of vaccination passports will begin at some of the country’s most iconic venues next week, with crowds of up to 21,000 people allowed to gather for the first time in a year.
Boris Johnson will tomorrow confirm a system of certification that will allow spectators at football matches and other sporting events, nightclubs and theatres.
The system will take into account vaccination status, a recent negative test or natural immunity – demonstrated by producing a positive PCR test taken in the previous six months.
Ministers are also understood to be set to block Covid passports being rolled out in pubs and restaurants, although the Government will consult with the industry before making a decision
The first events begin next week and the project will run until May 15. They are designed to advance the reopening roadmap’s plan to scrap social distancing on June 21
Nine events will be used for a month-long trial, including an FA Cup semi-final and the final in front of 21,000 fans at Wembley, a nightclub in Liverpool, which would host 3,000 indoors and do away with social distancing, and three 10km outdoor runs for 3,000 athletes and up to 3,000 spectators. Officials are also in talks with the organisers of the Brit Awards about allowing thousands of fans to watch the music event, hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall, in London’s O2 Arena on May 11.
The first events begin next week and the project will run until May 15. They are designed to advance the reopening roadmap’s plan to scrap social distancing on June 21. Liverpool has been chosen for several events because of the city’s advanced testing infrastructure.
The trials will be led by scientists, aided by researchers inside events to ‘monitor and study’ crowds. Some events will be used to test Covid certificates, others to examine how ventilation, crowd flows and testing on entry can help audiences return without social distancing.
Researchers will also study ‘behavioural’ responses of crowds after a year of social distancing. A Government source said: ‘It’s going to feel very odd for people to be sitting next to each other.’
A board of advisers, made up of independent scientists and public health experts, will assess the data and present results to Ministers at the end of May. Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: ‘The great British summer of sport, performance and music is now in sight.’
Writing in The Mail on Sunday opposite, Mr Dowden accepts that events with social distancing have ‘no atmosphere’ and adds the trial will allow ‘real occasions with large audiences in theatres, stadiums and at gigs packed with cheering fans’.
He says: ‘Each pilot event is a model for a much bigger reopenings in the future, particularly from June 21.
‘And the programme is a key part in helping us to lift all the social distancing restrictions this summer, if we can do so safely.’ The Government said Covid passports were expected to be used in events where ‘large numbers of people are in close proximity, at mass events such as festivals, sports matches and nightclubs’.
Ministers are also understood to be set to block Covid passports being rolled out in pubs and restaurants, although the Government will consult with the industry before making a decision.
The Government also said work was ‘ongoing with clinical and ethical experts to ensure appropriate exemptions for people for whom vaccination is not advised and repeat testing would be difficult’. Last month, Mr Johnson told MPs the decision to use vaccine passports could be left to individual pub landlords, prompting a backlash from the hospitality industry and cross-party MPs.
Meanwhile, the Government is conducting a separate review of social distancing, with a view to scrap the ‘1m plus’ rule – a move seen as crucial for arts and hospitality venues to remain viable when they reopen.
It comes as research revealed that four out of five people would be willing to show proof they had been vaccinated or had tested negative for Covid to attend a concert or a cricket match.
The MoS-commissioned poll of 2,010 people by Censuswide also found that 84 per cent were willing to agree to some form of ‘bio-security’ safety measures, including social distancing, one-way systems and testing. However, 60 per cent said they were unwilling to pay to cover the costs of extra measures to prevent the spread of Covid.
Those surveyed also said that compulsory mask-wearing was the measure that would make them feel most comfortable in attending, ahead of social distancing and vaccine passports.
Foreign holidays on track to start May 17! Boris is on course to give the green light to trips abroad under a traffic light system after success of the vaccine rollout and Covid-19 deaths falling
By Anna Mikhailova For The Mail On Sunday
Boris Johnson is on course to give the green light to holidays abroad from May 17 – as the Government was buoyed by a triple dose of good news on vaccines.
The Prime Minister will announce that the near-blanket ban on foreign travel will be replaced by a traffic-light system, paving the way for holidays overseas in six weeks.
Countries will be assessed according to their vaccination programmes, infection rates and prevalence of known variants and ability to identify them.
While only a handful of popular European destinations are expected to be given ‘green’ status, it will likely open the way to trips to countries including the Maldives, Gibraltar, Malta and Israel.
Foreign holidays could be just six weeks away as the Prime Minister prepares to give green light to traffic light system
With the potential for circumstances to change, the first list of ‘green’ countries will not be announced until next month.
However, even travel to and from approved countries will require at least three Covid tests for each holidaymaker – one before departure back to Britain and two after returning – leaving families facing extra bills potentially running into hundreds of pounds.
Renewed hope that millions of Britons will be able to take a summer holiday abroad comes as Britain’s vaccination programme continues to make huge strides.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that an efficiency drive at the Oxford Biomedica factory, encouraged by Mr Johnson, will allow the production of 5 million extra doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine a year, making it the most efficient producer of that vaccine in the world.
In North Wales, a so-called ‘fill and finish’ plant, where the vaccine is decanted into vials for distribution, is in the process of increasing the number of production lines, while the European boss of pharma giant Moderna said 200,000 doses of their vaccine will soon begin arriving in the UK every week.
With the rate of second doses accelerating, using supplies of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, almost all the Moderna doses will be administered to those aged under 50.
In each of the last four days more second doses have been given than first doses, allowing the Government to hail the milestone of achieving more than 5 million second doses. That means more than one in ten adults have now had both shots.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said it represented fresh evidence ‘of progress along the road to freedom’. Meanwhile, the number of first doses reached 31.4 million, just shy of 60 per cent of all adults.
The stream of positive news came as:
- Daily Covid deaths fell to ten, the lowest number since September 14, as hospitals admissions fell by 23 per cent week-on-week and positive tests were down more than 28 per cent over the same period;
- A new Anti-Virals Taskforce is being set up to develop innovative coronavirus treatments, sources told this newspaper, with the creation of a simple pill to ward off the serious symptoms of the virus top of its list of aims;
- A single-dose vaccine developed by Johnson & Johnson is expected to be approved for use by Britain’s medical regulator ‘within weeks’, according to Government insiders;
- Ministers are set to launch a door-to-door vaccination push to help boost take-up among ethnic minorities, following the success of pilot schemes in Luton and Bradford where everyone over the age of 18 in a house was offered jabs at the same time;
- Oxford University and the Office for National Statistics are to examine the low take-up as early evidence suggested ethnic groups who have shunned vaccinations may have started to see higher Covid infection and death rates;
- As Mr Johnson praised the role of church volunteers in the vaccine rollout, police were criticised for breaking up a Good Friday service at a South London Catholic church;
- The Government is preparing to launch a PR offensive to encourage Britons to have staycations in the UK cities which have been badly hit by lockdown and the near-disappearance of overseas travellers;
- Tens of millions of pints of beer are being delivered to the nation’s pubs ahead of the next easing of lockdown in eight days’ time;
- Families pleaded with Ministers to further clarify the rules on care home visits after April 12 to avoid a postcode lottery;
- France was plunged back into a near-full lockdown with tougher Covid-19 restrictions being enforced across much of Europe.
Downing Street hopes to reach its target of offering a vaccine to all 32 million people in the first nine priority groups this week, earlier than its target date of April 15.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Johnson said: ‘We have made huge strides over the past few months with our vaccine programme and everyone in the country has made huge sacrifices to get us to this stage in our recovery from Covid-19.
‘We are doing everything we can to enable the reopening of our country so people can return to the events, travel and other things they love as safely as possible, and these reviews will play an important role in allowing this to happen.’
Meanwhile, he used an Easter message to pay tribute to the ‘church leaders and congregations that have stepped up to support us all in these very challenging times’, adding: ‘But, as ever, the arrival of Easter brings with it new hope.’
