UK 'must keep Britain safe before sharing vaccine' says Kwarteng

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The Prime Minister is expected to lay out proposals for the trial on Easter Monday, with theatres and stadiums the first to test the scheme. The vaccinated will be able to update details on the NHS Covid app, allowing venues to see that they have been given a jab against coronavirus.

The pilot schemes will begin when the NHS Covid app is updated, reports suggest.

Theatres and stadiums will be involved in the first vaccine certificates rollout, with pubs, restaurants, nightclubs and cinemas possibly taking it up later on.

From April 12, close to a dozen “large events” will reportedly be pilots for vaccine certificates, including the FA Cup final, an FA Cup semi-final, the League Cup final and the World Snooker Championships.

Monday will also see the results an interim study, headed by Michael Gove, published.

It looks into the feasibility of vaccine certificates. Mr Johnson will give updates its results the same day.

A Whitehall source told The Daily Mail, who reported the pilot schemes, vaccine certificates are “part of the trade-off” for ending social distancing by summer.

They added: “The hope is that people will be willing to tolerate it in order to get back to doing the things they love.”

Ministers have also attempted to alleviate fears that those who have not been vaccinated would be discriminated against, and have decided people should be able to demonstrate their risk status in other ways such as providing a negative test result.

Mr Johnson said on Thursday vaccine certificates were “definitely” planned for the UK’s exit from coronavirus lockdown restrictions.

Visiting Middlesborough, the PM said: “There’s definitely going to be a world in which international travel will use vaccine passports.

“I think when it comes to trying to make sure that we give maximum confidence to businesses and customers in the UK, there are three things – there’s immunity, whether you have had it before so you have natural antibodies, whether you have been vaccinated, and of course whether you have had a test.

“Those three things working together will be useful for us as we go forward.”

But 72 MPs have issued a joint statement against vaccine certificates, saying they are “divisive and discriminatory”, while vowing to vote against them.

Steve Baker, Tory MP for Wycombe and deputy chairman of the COVID Recovery Group, said certificates would be “unthinkable”.

Sir Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat leader and MP for Kingston and Surbiton, described the scheme as “unworkable and illiberal”.

Sir Keir Starmer, Labour leader and MP for Holborn and St Pancras, warned his party could oppose the “un-British” plan.

Currently, the roadmap out of lockdown is contingent on vaccines successfully driving down the rates of infection in England.

The UK has administered 35,660,902 doses of coronavirus vaccine, of which 31,147,444 are first, equal to 46.6 percent of the country, and 4,513,458 are second.

Yesterday saw another 4,479 cases and 51 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test.

In total, the UK has recorded 4,350,266 cases and 126,764 deaths.

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