The British government announced Sunday, September 12, that it had abandoned its plan to introduce a vaccine passport to access nightclubs and other busy places in England.

He considers it superfluous due to the success of the vaccination campaign against Covid-19.

"I never liked the idea of ​​telling people to show their papers (...) to do what is just a routine activity," Health Minister Sajid Javid told the BBC. 

"We have seen it as it should be, and while we should keep it in reserve as a potential option, I am happy to say that we are not going to continue with our vaccine passport project," he said. added. 

Sajid Javid also told the BBC that he no longer anticipates lockdowns, although he does not wish to exclude such measures from government options.

London does an about-face 

This turnaround comes as the executive repeated this week its intention to introduce a vaccination certificate at the end of September to enter stadiums or discos, attracting strong criticism from the nightlife sector and from members of the conservative majority. like opposition. 

Sajid Javid estimated that such a measure was ultimately not necessary, despite a daily number of positive cases around 40,000 in recent days, given a high rate of vaccination in the United Kingdom.

Almost 81% of the population over 16 received two doses. 

>> To read also: Covid-19: football, summer and precautions, the keys to the British "miracle"?

As each constituent nation of the country has jurisdiction over anti-Covid restrictions, Scotland has decided to introduce, as of October 1, a vaccination certificate to access nightclubs and certain events, in order to curb the rise in case attributed to the start of the school year. 

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will present his plan to tackle the pandemic during the coming winter on Tuesday, Health Minister Sajid Javid said.

"Now that we are entering autumn and winter (...), the Prime Minister will set out this week our plans to manage the Covid over the coming months and in this we will clearly indicate that our vaccination program is working", he told Sky News.

Boris Johnson deplores "necessary but intrusive" anti-Covid measures

According to the British press, mass vaccination should remain the main focus, with the deployment of a booster program and a decision on the possible administration of vaccines to young people aged 12 to 15 years. 

As London arrogated to itself in March 2020 a series of emergency powers including measures to shut down businesses, Boris Johnson has made it clear that he will end some of them.

"These extraordinary times have required necessary but intrusive measures. But I am determined to rid ourselves of all the powers that we no longer need because of our vaccine defenses," he said in a statement.

Sajid Javid has also announced his intention to remove "as soon as possible" the obligation for doubly vaccinated travelers from certain countries to undergo an expensive PCR test no later than two days after their arrival in England. 

With AFP and Reuters 

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