No vaccine passports: The British Prime Minister will establish the COVID-19 winter plan

LONDON, Sept. 12 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday will unveil plans to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic during the winter months, announcing the decision to abandon the introduction of vaccine passports and steps to end some emergency powers.

Johnson, under fire from some of his Conservative Conservative government government for raising taxes to fix a health and welfare crisis, appears to be trying to calm those critics by abandoning plans to introduce passports despite a growing number of coronavirus cases. Read more

Speaking to broadcasters, Health Minister Sajid Javid said he did not envisage further blockades and that vaccine passports would not be introduced in England as the government relies on vaccines and tests to defend the public.

“Now that we are entering autumn and winter … the Prime Minister this week will set out our plans to manage COVID over the coming months and in doing so we will make it clear that our vaccination program is working,” Javid said. tell Sky News.

He told the BBC he did not “anticipate any blockade” but would not withdraw the measure, that the government would not go ahead with vaccine passports to allow people to attend mass events and wanted to “get rid of” the PCR evidence for to travelers as soon as possible.

“MANY VIRUSES AROUND”

Javid added that the government will remain “prudent”, but “the vaccination program, our testing program, our surveillance program, the new treatments … that’s all our defense wall and even though there is a lot of virus around, it is working “.

The nightlife industry welcomed the change in the direction of vaccine passports, with Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Organization Industries Association (NTIA), saying he hoped companies could “start rebuilding. a sector that has been at the strong end of this pandemic “.

The government also said it hoped the Joint Vaccination and Vaccination Committee of Great Britain (JCVI) would confirm the details of a vaccination-enhancing program that would begin this month.

Britain, which has one of the highest official COVID-19 death rates in the world, has seen an increase in the number of cases in recent months after easing restrictions in July, when the government first opted for vaccines. to protect the public.

The government handed over extensive emergency powers in March 2020 with the introduction of the Coronavirus Act, which included measures to shut down businesses, shut down sectors of the economy and the right to detain infectious people.

“These extraordinary times require necessary but intrusive measures. But I am determined to get rid of all the powers we no longer need because of our defenses against the vaccine,” Johnson said in a statement.

The opposition Labor Party said it agreed it was a “reasonable” approach to taking some action outside the statute book, but warned the government that the winter could punish the National Health Service (NHS). ).

“We know the winter is going to be tough, the NHS fears the worst winter we can remember, we know we will have more flu and respiratory problems,” Labor health chief Jonathan Ashworth told Times Radio.

“So we need to prepare our NHS for winter.”

Report by Elizabeth Piper; Edited by Alex Richardson

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