Introduction of vaccine passports long overdue

So, plans to make vaccine passports mandatory in nightclubs have been branded a ‘big worry’ for the hospitality industry amid fears all venues could be forced to use them. Good. Let’s hope the requirement for these documents is indeed extended to larger gatherings such as sporting events and festivals.

Environments that see hundreds of people queueing, then packed together in unventilated spaces and dancing in close contact to strangers are not limited to nightclubs.

Yesterday business minister Paul Scully said ministers were not ‘ruling anything out’ as he hinted plans for vaccine passports from September could move beyond proposals for nightclubs spelled out by Boris Johnson on Monday.

Why has this taken so long?

It’s a decision which should have been made soon after the identification of the Delta variant of Covid-19. It is a move we have long supported despite the welter of opposition from those who believe it to be ‘yet another’ assault on personal freedom.

We , like many readers , shuddered at our picture of clubbers outside the Astoria in Guildhall Walk, Portsmouth, in the early minutes of Monday, so-called Freedom Day.

There was not a mask in sight and social distancing appeared to have been consigned to the history books. It was all quite legal, but it should not have been.

More young people need to get jabbed because it appears there are higher levels of vaccinehesitancy and apathy in younger age groups.

Given that young people were less likely to be admitted to hospital and die from the virus than those in older age groups, polling has found take-up was expected to drop off.

But that’s not the point. They need to understand that: ‘No Covid ID, no entry,’ – regardless of the impact on the night-time economy.