Article here
Ministers are discussing drawing up a list of “essential” places, including hospitals, GP surgeries and supermarkets, where vaccination passports would not be used, as Boris Johnson prepares to announce next week whether they will become a feature of British life.
Covid status certificates, available to those who have been vaccinated, recently tested negative or who have developed antibodies after contracting the virus, are being taken increasingly seriously at the top of government as a way of aiding the unlocking of the economy.
Just over five weeks ago Johnson announced that Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, would lead a review of the issue. While he was not expected to report until mid-June, the prime minister is expected to provide a “high-level direction of travel” update on certificates on Monday. If he says that he sees a role for passports, the Gove review will continue to June, focusing on solving practical difficulties.
IN YOUR INBOX
Coronavirus update
For a concise rundown of the developments that matter, combined with expert analysis, sign up to receive our dedicated daily coronavirus newsletter
Sign up now
One question being considered is which parts of life should be kept open for those who refuse to take part. Hospitals, GP surgeries and supermarkets are likely to be forbidden from barring people who do not have a status certificate, on the grounds that doing so would be discriminatory. Other locations could include courts and police stations.
The Royal College of GPs warned that Covid passports for pubs could be discriminatory and risk government accessing sensitive medical records.
Those less comfortable with technology could be shut out by a requirement to show an app-based digital Covid certificate, the college says. It also warns ministers against “identifiable central registers” of health records, saying there must be a clear guarantee that data will be used only to allow people to prove their own status.
Martin Marshall, head of the college, has written to Gove expressing concern about how the scheme would work, as well as warning that it must not lead to extra paperwork for doctors struggling to recover from the pandemic.
INTERACTIVE
Tracking coronavirus in the UK: where the latest cases have spread
See how the virus has escalated in areas across the country as the number of identified cases in Britain continues to grow
Read more
“The college is not necessarily opposed to the introduction of some sort of opt-in proof of vaccination document to allow for international travel. Our concern about introducing certification for domestic use is that this risks negatively impacting on some patient groups more than others and by doing so widening existing inequalities, including health inequalities, in society.”
He added: “Alternative proof of vaccination must be available for those who don’t have smartphones or are simply less tech-savvy.”
Last night Sir Keir Starmer said that Covid passports for everyday activities went against the “British instinct”.
The Labour leader told The Daily Telegraph that while the issue was extremely difficult, “my instinct is that . . . [if] we get the virus properly under control, the death rates are near zero, hospital admissions very, very low, that the British instinct in those circumstances will be against vaccine passports”. He added that he was also against leaving it up to commerce. “I think that this idea that we sort of outsource this to individual landlords is just wrong in principle.”
Starmer’s remarks increase the possibility that the government would struggle to get the proposal through, especially as the Liberal Democrats and many Tory rebels are against it.