Domestic Vaccine Passports to Be Scrapped in England

A person holds a mobile phone displaying the NHS app used to show a person's vaccination status and COVID Pass, on Dec. 2, 2021. Kirsty O’Connor/PA

The British government has scrapped its NHS COVID Pass for domestic purposes in England in a continuation of its “Living with COVID” strategy.

According to new guidance published on Saturday, the government said that from this Thursday, the domestic NHS COVID Pass will no longer be available and is no longer being enforced. This means that venues and events will no longer be able to request it as a condition of entry.

The NHS COVID Pass was the official way to demonstrate COVID-19 vaccination status in England, and was used by nightclubs and large events to check people’s vaccination or test status.

Its removal is part of a wider move on behalf of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative government, which pledged that it was going to axe vaccine passports in England as part of the “Living with COVID” strategy in February. The plan, which removed all remaining legal restrictions, has seen England return to relative normality since it was announced.

There are no mandatory vaccination schemes existing any more in the UK for the general public, with the “no jab no job” policy imposed on care homes in November 2021 was scrapped in mid-March. It is no longer a criminal offence to refuse to wear a mask, and children under the age of 11 never legally have to wear a face covering.

The Coronavirus Act 2020, which gave the government powers to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, expired on March 25.

Vaccine passports faced fierce political opposition last December, mainly from Johnson’s own Cabinet, when 60 Tory MPs voted against the imposition of extra coronavirus measures that called passports to be made mandatory for large venues.

In line with the guidance change, from May 12, the government said that the “medical exemptions service will no longer accept new applications from people who want to use the domestic NHS COVID Pass to prove they cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons.”

However, the NHS COVID Pass for international travel will continue to be available, the government added.

The European Union made available its COVID-19 passport for all EU citizens and residents in July 2021, with countries adopting their own strict vaccine passport regimes. In some countries, vaccine passports were required to enter almost all public buildings.

In Italy, the Super Green Pass was needed to enter most public spaces, including workplaces and medium and long-distance public transport, although pharmacies and supermarkets were exempt. The country recently dropped its COVID-19 restrictions.

France, which had strict bans on the unvaccinated visiting cafes and restaurants and domestic travel, also lifted its vaccine passport in March in all areas where it was previously required.