By Tony O’Riley-
Prime minister Boris Johnson , has spoken of “lots of difficult issues… moral complexities, ethical problems that need to be addressed” in relation to vaccine passports in the UK.
Mr Johnson caused a bit of a stir on Wednesday, after he suggested that pub-goers might have to prove their vaccination status if pub landlords demand it.
His controversial comments led to the view in many circles that the prime minister was covertly trying to compel the entire British public to take the vaccine , in line with his expressed view that everyone should be vaccinated. At least, all those who intend to go to pubs once they re-open.
Vaccine uptake in the UK has been pretty high so far, with about half of the population already vaccinated, but the vaccine roll out still has a long way to go.
Given objections to the vaccine from a number of the British public, especially large segments of the ethnic minority community, there are concerns among some employers and some in the hospitality sector that their environment may not be fully covid secure safe.
However, others are concerned about the prospect of turning a free society like Britain into a draconian state, in which citizens are forced to have a vaccine against their wishes.
Mr Johnson notably backtracked a little on his encouragement to pub landlords to potentially discriminate against those who have not been vaccinated
Mr Johnson said: “There are some people who for medical reasons can’t get a vaccination, pregnant women can’t get a vaccination at the moment, you’ve got to be careful about how you do this.
“You might only be able to implement a thorough-going vaccination passport scheme even if you wanted such a thing in the context of when absolutely everybody had been offered a vaccine.”
Mr Johnson said previous coronavirus infections could be a feature used if Covid-19 health certificates are adopted.
“There are three basic components. There’s the vaccine, there’s your immunity you might have had after you’ve had Covid, and there’s testing – they are three things that could work together.”
However he added: “No decisions have been taken at all. One thing I will make clear is none of this is obviously going to apply on April 12 when it will all be outdoors anyway.”