GP surgeries, hospitals and supermarkets are set to be exempt from Covid vaccine passports

Hospitals, GP surgeries and supermarkets could be excluded from any Covid vaccine passport scheme, according to reports, as Boris Johnson prepares to announce more details of on Monday.

Ministers could create a list of ‘essential’ public buildings which could be banned from excluding members of the public who have not had a jab, according to the Times.

It comes as the Government is said to be looking at the idea of Covid status certificates ‘increasingly seriously’. 

The certificates will show if a person has been vaccinated, has recently tested negative, or has shown anti-bodies.

Pubs, bars and restaurants have previously been earmarked as businesses which may have to implement a Covid passport system.

That’s despite objections from industry chiefs, as well as GP groups, who warn such a system could be ‘discriminatory’.

Previous reports have suggested NHS workers could also be forced to have Covid jabs under plans being discussed by ministers.  

It comes as it was revealed yesterday that Britain’s coronavirus infection rate is now significantly lower than 25 of the EU’s 27 countries – as the UK’s daily Covid cases plunge by 28 per cent in a week.

The vaccine passport system review is being led by Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and is not expected until Mid-June.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to provide a ‘high level direction of travel’ on any potential scheme as of Monday.

Ahead of the review Martin Marshall, head of the Royal College of GPs, has warned the system could ‘widen existing inequalities’ and heap extra work on GPs who are already struggling due the pandemic.

He told the Times: ‘The college is not necessarily opposed to the introduction of some sort of opt-in proof of vaccination document to allow for international travel.

‘Our concern about introducing certification for domestic use is that this risks negatively impacting on some patient groups more than others and by doing so widening existing inequalities, including health inequalities, in society.’

He also warned that any system must have an alternative to smart-phones for those who are less tech-savy.  

It comes following earlier reports that suggest ministers are mulling a ‘Covid clear’ system for people to prove they have tested negative or had a vaccine help open up pubs and sporting events.

The idea is understood to be under consideration as part of the government’s drive to get the country up and running again.

Mr Johnson previously cast doubt on the idea of ‘vaccine passports’ saying it could be ‘discriminatory’ against people who ‘genuinely’ refuse jabs or cannot have them for valid reasons.

His comments were echoed by vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi, who repeatedly denied that there were plans to introduce them, saying they were ‘discriminatory’. 

And it has previously been suggested the passports were only to be used to unlock trip abroad after lockdown had finished. 

But the PM has ordered Mr Gove to carry out a review of whether a wider system of Covid certification can be used to help reopen the UK.

One option understood to be on the table would involve businesses able to check test results on the NHS app. Individuals would be able to show that they have either had a jab or tested negative – maintaining their choice about vaccination.

Government sources stressed that no decisions have been taken and work is at an early stage.

But supporters say such a concept could help theatres, cinemas, sporting venues and workplaces get back towards normality more quickly.

On a visit to a school in South London this morning Mr Johnson said there were ‘deep and complex issues’ involved in taking the ‘novel’ step of asking people to prove things about their health to access businesses or services.

‘We can’t be discriminatory against people who for whatever reason people can’t have the vaccine, there might be medical reasons why people can’t have a vaccine,’ he said.

‘Or some people may genuinely refuse to have one. I think that’s a mistake, I think everybody should have a vaccine, but we need to thrash all this out.’

Meanwhile, Sir Jonathan Montgomery, who has led an evidence review into vaccine passports, said the idea would come too late to save summer because people would need two jabs to qualify and most young people won’t have both until the autumn.

The University College London professor of healthcare law told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme last month that there were three problems his research team had identified.

He said: ‘The first is the scientific one – does it work, and that all depends on this information about risk of transmission. The second is a timing issue.

‘We need to reopen the economy as quickly as it’s safe to do so, and vaccine passports are not going to be useful until people have had their second vaccine.

‘So it’s not something that’s going to solve the problem for summer 2021, because even on the fantastic achievements that we’ve had, the population that is going to use nightclubs is not going to have had its two vaccinations until at least the autumn, and we need everything open before then if we can.

‘And then the third question is who gets excluded by this – so if you haven’t been able to get the vaccine, you get excluded; if you for whatever reason are not appropriate to have the vaccine, or you have objections to using the vaccine, you get excluded; and those things are likely not to be evenly distributed across society.’

Sir Jonathan added that there were also ‘knock-on effects’, saying: ‘Now if this was the only way of getting the clubs open, then we might trade off the intrusions into privacy, but if there are other ways of doing it, then we probably wouldn’t want to have private information shared unnecessarily.’

In March month it was revealed that NHS workers could be forced to have Covid jabs under plans being discussed by ministers.

The review of vaccine passports will consider whether health staff who decline an injection could be legally obliged to have one.

The review is also expected to look at whether compulsion should apply to care home staff, most of whom are not employed by the state.   

It comes as it was today revealed Britain’s coronavirus infection rate is now significantly lower than 25 of the EU’s 27 countries – as the UK’s daily Covid cases plunge by 28 per cent in a week.

The UK’s successful vaccine rollout means it is now in the best position of all major European nations, despite being the worst hit in January.

The weekly infection rate in France – where intensive care units are overwhelmed – is around eight times higher than in the UK.

But President Emmanuel Macron blamed the so-called ‘British variant’ for the country’s surge in cases, saying it created ‘a pandemic inside a pandemic’ as France heads into its third national lockdown from Saturday.

He yesterday announced that all of mainland France will be under a 7pm curfew, working from home will be expected from those that can, gatherings will be limited, non-essential shops will be closed, and travel restrictions will be imposed.

In Germany, which recorded 23,681 cases on March 30, the infection rate is nearly three times higher.

Over the past week, the UK has recorded an average of 73 cases per one million people every day. This is a lower rate than all 27 EU nations apart from Denmark and Portugal, which have both adopted strict lockdowns.

Hungary, the worst affected EU nation, has a daily rate of 882 cases per one million.

In France it is 571, while the rate in the Netherlands is 449 and in Italy it is 334. As Europe battles a third wave, UK cases, deaths and hospitalisations have fallen to a six-month low.

On Wednesday, another 43 deaths and 4,052 cases were recorded. Deaths are now averaging 50 a day, down from a peak of 1,284 deaths on January 19. It also marked a 56 per cent week-on-week drop in deaths on last Wednesday.

The contrasting fortunes of Britain and mainland Europe are largely down to our successful vaccination programme. Nearly six in ten adults in the UK have now received at least one dose.

But across the EU, just 11 per cent of the population have been vaccinated.

NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens is urging all over-50s and younger people with health conditions yet to be vaccinated to book an appointment now.