Vaccine passports could still be required in pubs if the pandemic worsens over the winter months as the Health Secretary refused to rule out the move.
Sajid Javid said he did not want drinkers to have to show proof of their double-vaccination status before entering pubs- “unless ... something happens that means that we have to take further measures.”
Ministers have refused to rule out the eventual use of vaccine passports after they were mentioned as part of the PM’s ‘Plan B’ for dealing with Coronavirus this winter.
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Asked about the possibility of introducing vaccine passports for pubs, as well as major events and nightclubs, Mr Javid said: “if something happens that means that we have to take further measures, then we will.
“And that may well include vaccine passports as a reserve measure and let me explain, that you might think, well what could happen, what could really go wrong?”
Plans to force all nightclubs and major venues to ask for vaccine passports from the end of this month were shelved following strong Tory backlash.
However, they remain a part of Boris Johnson’s Plan B for winter.
Under the Prime Minister’s Plan A for winter, venues are being encouraged to ask punters for a ‘Covid pass’ showing their vaccination status.
Should cases rise or the NHS show signs of becoming overwhelmed, vaccine passports could become mandatory.
The Prime Minister stated earlier this week that whilst he did not like the idea of using vaccine passports in pubs, they would have been a "game-changer" in helping the industry operate at a higher capacity last year.
The possibility of a new variant being discovered could also see measures being introduced, with Mr Javid saying that Britain is working with Governments across the world to watch out for new Covid Strains.
The Health Secretary said: “There are new variants all the time, by the way, but most of them are nothing to worry at all, but there may be a new variant that is much more infectious and, God forbid, it might even be a vaccine escape variant or have some of its properties.
“In that situation, we have to be ready to take further action and we set that out yesterday, the so-called Plan B and I think it’s the act of a responsible government to recognise that when it comes to something like COVID, it’s not your friend, it’s clearly not always under your control.
“You can fight it, but you have to be ready because if COVID changes with a new variant, for example, it’s not going to wait for the government.”
