Speaking on the BBC’s “The Andrew Marr Show” on Sunday, the health secretary said he “never liked the idea” of forcing people to show their papers in everyday activities, but the government was right to look at the evidence.
“What I can say is that we’ve looked at it properly and whilst we should keep it in reserve as a potential option, I’m pleased to say that we will not be going ahead with plans for vaccine passports,” Javid said.
The health secretary added that the government shouldn’t be doing things for the sake of it or because others are doing them.
“So many countries, at the time they implemented it, was to try and boost their vaccination rates and you can understand why they might have done that,” he said.
Javid said that England has so far been “very successful” with its vaccination rates, with 55 percent of 16- to 17- year-olds having had their first doses only a month after the jabs were offered to this age group.
Shortly before his announcement on the BBC, the health secretary said the government hadn’t made a final decision on domestic vaccine passport in a separate interview with Sky News. He also said that he wants to get rid of PCR tests for international travel “as soon as [he] possibly can.”
A number of European countries have introduced CCP virus status passports for settings including large events and restaurants.
The Scottish Parliament voted 68 votes to 55 on Thursday to support the implementation of CCP virus vaccine passports in Scotland’s nightclubs and other crowded venues.
A negative test for COVID-19 will not be accepted at this stage. The Scottish government said it was to boost vaccine uptake and to prevent limited PCR lab capacity from being overwhelmed by clubbers. The now-scrapped vaccine passport plan for England also wouldn’t have accepted negative test results.
As of Sept. 9, nearly 90 percent of the UK population aged over 16 have received the first dose of a CCP virus vaccine, and over 80 percent have received both doses, the government said.
