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Certification of vaccines as a way to unlock British society would not be discriminatory, the British Vaccines Minister insisted on Tuesday, as the proposal continues to spark controversy in the UK.
Minister Nadhim Zahawi said such a requirement raises “a number of ethical issues”, but “it would be remiss of us as a government” not to consider all options to reopen the economy and ” take back our lives ”.
No decision has yet been made, he told BBC Breakfast, but “at the end of the day everything we decide has to be achievable, has to be non-discriminatory. You can’t have some sort of two-tier or multi-tier system. “
Zahawi’s comments – echoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s comments a day earlier – are the latest indication that a government that once ruled out the possibility of “vaccine passports” is sliding toward their introduction.
Zahawi himself had previously rejected the idea of introducing a vaccine passport: “First, we don’t know the impact of vaccines on transmission. Second, it would be discriminatory, ”he told Sky News in February.
But the program will now be tested in the coming weeks for large-scale events, cinemas and theaters.
Asked about BBC Breakfast how this will be possible without being discriminatory, Zahawi said: “There won’t be a situation where a government allows this to happen, but it is right that we look at all the technologies.
He continued, “Anyone can take a test, there is no discrimination, everyone can take a test, not everyone can get the vaccine. […] that’s why we need to look at all the technologies, make sure they work together to get us where we need to be. “
The topic has met both support and backlash from all political walks of life, with several figures from Johnson’s own Conservative Party against the idea of vaccine passports.
The government released an update on its review on easing lockdown restrictions on Monday, which read: “Even without government intervention, certification of Covid status is likely to become a feature of our lives until the threat of the pandemic disappears. ”
Meanwhile, Zahawi said the Moderna vaccine was about to be rolled out in the UK “around the third week of April”.
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