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Original poster

Do we think the app will become compulsory?

27 replies

november90 · 26/07/2021 04:37

I've not downloaded and never want to. But with all the talk of vaccine passports etc I do wonder if the app maybe be somehow included?

OP posts:
CeeceeBloomingdale · 26/07/2021 04:42

No, because owning a mobile phone can never be mandatory!

It's not the test and trace app anyway, it's the NHS app that some GPs and hospitals use to book appointments. When I downloaded it, it contained 7 years of info on medication I have taken. The data is there whether you use the app or not. I have never used the T&T app.

Megasausagehead · 26/07/2021 04:47

Nope.

Definitely not.

QueSeraSarah · 26/07/2021 05:02

How can it? Not everyone has a smartphone.

YoungWerther · 26/07/2021 05:06

Not unless we all get government-issued smartphones.

Or implants.

User56439876 · 26/07/2021 05:31

Neither app will become compulsory but it is not clear from your OP which one you mean, it sounds like you speak of the T&T one which has nothing to do with vaccine passports.

woodfort · 26/07/2021 05:38

No. Not just because they are two separate apps and the T&T one will probably get quietly disbanded in a year from now anyway… but also because the point is that you can’t be forced to own a smart phone, they can’t check you own a smart phone or the app, they can’t force you to take to phone with you when you go out etc and you can switch the contact tracing Bluetooth bit on and off for a very good reason (NHS workers supposed to switch off when in hospital / work etc as they are in PPE and will naturally come across Covid all the time.

The NHS app which existing before and you can do non-Covid things on too is pretty useful and I will keep it. If I need to show my vaccine passport it’s easier to have that then a piece of paper, which is the alternative. It doesn’t track me and is not mandatory.

RainbowCrayons · 26/07/2021 05:59

I'm just picturing it becoming mandatory and my Grandma in her 90s (and all the others like her) having to get to grips with a smartphone and apps! The horror of that is enough to put anyone off the idea!

Banani · 26/07/2021 06:30

The T&T app won’t become compulsory, enforced (working) smart phone ownership & tracking isn’t possible.
The NHS app which shows your vaccine status (amongst other things) will likely become pretty essential to have, but there will be other (likely more of a hassle) ways to prove your status for those that don’t have it.

megletthesecond · 26/07/2021 06:30

Unlikely. Not everyone has a smartphone or an up to date one that can cope with the app. I never got the app because my phone was dying last year and couldn't cope with anything for months.

MorganSeventh · 26/07/2021 06:34

No, because one person in six doesn't have a smartphone and something like 7.5% of people in the UK have never used the internet.

Wjevtvha · 26/07/2021 06:34

No, I don’t see how they can do that

GlutenFreeGingerCake · 26/07/2021 06:51

I don't think it will but I can see it being much easier than the alternative to try to encourage people to have it. But there will probably be a paper version or a card or something like that which you can send off for or is in some other way less convenient than just downloading the app.

GreenWhiteViolet · 26/07/2021 06:56

I certainly hope not!

I have an old phone, don't turn on location/Bluetooth, and don't want an app with all my medical records accessible on it anyway.

I know that if you're travelling abroad and don't have the app you can order a paper vaccine certificate, so I presume it'll be the same domestically- although I'm still hoping they'll scrap the idea entirely!

User56439876 · 26/07/2021 07:11

There will surely be a secure website based way of getting your vaccine passport and printing it out without having to get it posted because often people don't have smartphones but do have a computer or tablet to use the internet. People don't always want to be fiddling about with apps on phones, the government seem obsessed with apps, I certainly prefer to use my iMac than phone for everything and would print one from that for the odd time I wanted one rather than the use the app

UseOfWeapons · 26/07/2021 07:12

No, many people don’t have a smart phone, and as it’s not mandatory to carry ID in the UK either, you would not be able to be forced to have a phone, and download the app.

yeOldeTrout · 26/07/2021 07:14

Even if it's compulsory to install T&T App, easy to turn bluetooth off, no?

woodfort · 26/07/2021 07:18

And the T&T app is nothing to do with the passport??

Imnothereforthedrama · 26/07/2021 07:19

The vaccine passport is not on the T&t app it’s the nhs app . I don’t have the t&t app but I have the nhs app it has my vaccine passport.

TheVampiresWife · 26/07/2021 07:43

As PPs have said the app doesn't show vaccine status so there would be no need for it to become compulsory.

Either way, no app will become compulsory because (again, as PP have said), not everyone has a smartphone. And it's not just older people either - DH is 37 and he doesn't have any sort of phone, has never had one and doesn't want one.

Original poster
november90 · 26/07/2021 08:05

You will make a very good point about the phones et cetera. I guess what triggered my post was I saw somebody right on Twitter that they had only downloaded the app because some venues wouldn't let her in without the test and trace app so it just got me thinking. I have obviously never experienced this, but if places start doing this then it will just become an absolute nightmare!

OP posts:
yeOldeTrout · 26/07/2021 08:08

ahhhh.... I misunderstood & thought OP meant T&T app. Because that's the one that makes life inconvenient.

Big puzzle is how will internationally delivered jabs work, if you got your first jab in Spain & 2nd in USA... who will produce a certificate for that -- do people just keep getting jabs in different places?

Will Britain make record of getting autumn 2021 booster jab compulsory to go into restaurants or garden centres? (places older adults concentrate) Who knows.

bumbleymummy · 26/07/2021 08:21

Yes @yeOldeTrout I was wondering how often people are going to need to be vaccinated to keep their ‘passport’ up to date. There might be less support for it when people realise they might need to have the vaccine every six months to allow them to eat out.

GlutenFreeGingerCake · 26/07/2021 08:45

I've noticed that when they work out how effective certain measures will be they base it on their estimated compliance level so they would be working on say 75% of people have a smart phone and of those 75% would download the app (or whatever their estimate is) and that would be what they are working on as a target.

newnortherner111 · 26/07/2021 09:31

No I don't have it, largely because I often go out without my phone which is a work one. There are other ways of getting information to prove you have been double jabbed.

XenoBitch · 26/07/2021 11:11

No. Not everyone has a phone capable of running the app.
My own phone is ancient, but it texts and calls so I have no intention of upgrading.