“I would remind everybody that some of life’s most important pleasures and opportunities are likely to be increasingly dependent on vaccination.”
People will need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter nightclubs and “crowded venues” in the UK from the end of September, the vaccines minister announced on Monday.
Nadhim Zahawi said a negative coronavirus test would soon “no longer be sufficient” after all adults in the country have been offered the jab – which is expected to happen by September also.
Speaking in the Commons on the day England’s nightclubs were allowed to open for the first time since March 2020, he urged businesses to use the NHS COVID pass to show if someone has been vaccinated or tested negative for the virus.
“We will be keeping a close watch on how it is used by venues and reserve the right to mandate if necessary,” he said.
“By the end of September everyone aged 18 and over will have the chance to receive full vaccination and the additional two weeks for that protection to really take hold.
“So at that point we plan to make full vaccination a condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather. Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient.”
The UK government is said to hope the announcement will increase uptake in the under-30 age group which currently has uptake much lower than other age cohorts in the country.
Speaking to reporters at a a news conference on Monday, UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson said that 35% of 18 to 30-year-olds were still unvaccinated.
He encouraged young people to get the vaccine, adding that it is the “right thing to help get back the freedoms you love”.
He said: “I would remind everybody that some of life’s most important pleasures and opportunities are likely to be increasingly dependent on vaccination.”
Asked if there would be also be a vaccination requirement for pubs, Johnson said he “certainly didn’t want to see” it happen but that the government “reserved the right to do what’s necessary to protect the public”.
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