London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jul 21, 2025

Planning ahead? Firms land Covid passport contracts that could last until 2023, even as UK govt hints plan could be dropped

Planning ahead? Firms land Covid passport contracts that could last until 2023, even as UK govt hints plan could be dropped

The British government has awarded potentially years-long contracts to help develop a domestic vaccine passport, as Downing Street simultaneously hints that the whole idea could be abandoned if enough people get the jab.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published information earlier this week on two new contracts with private tech firms hired to work on the country’s “Covid-19 certification programme.”

US-based Entrust will receive close to £840,000 ($1.2 million) for the development of the NHS health pass. The deal will last until at least July next year but pricing for a two-year contract is already detailed in official documents, suggesting that the UK government may be eyeing a long-term arrangement.

While the contract was made available to the public online, information about specific services that Entrust will be providing has been completely redacted, with several pages of the document blacked out.

The US tech company was awarded £250,000 earlier this year as part of its ongoing work on the health pass program. The contract raised eyebrows after it was revealed that Entrust had openly boasted about how Covid-19 vaccine passports could be retooled to create national IDs as part of the “infrastructure of the new normal.”

The DHSC also signed a second vaccine passport contract this week worth up to £873,000 with Cambridge, Massachusetts IT firm Akamai Technologies. Like the agreement with Entrust, the one-year deal is designed so that it can be seamlessly extended for an additional 12 months. The US firm pocketed £50,000 in May as part of its involvement in the creation of the digital vaccine ID.

Akamai, which specializes in cybersecurity technologies, purchased online identity management company Janrain in 2019.

In total, the government has now spent nearly £23.6 million ($32.9 million) on its Covid certification programme, iNews reported.

The new contracts coincide with the introduction of new features on the NHS app that will allow it to serve as a digital vaccine certificate.

In a controversial reversal of its position on domestic health IDs, the government revealed last week that, starting from the end of September, proof of vaccination will be required in order to enter nightclubs and attend events involving large crowds.

With around 70% of adults in the country already vaccinated, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab suggested on Thursday that the threat of the vaccine passport may be enough to “cajole” young people into getting the shot.

“Once we’ve done that, the wider questions of vaccine certification become much less relevant and salient,” Raab said, suggesting that the whole plan could be dropped if vaccine uptake increases over the next two months.

But the newly inked contracts seem to be sending mixed messages about the government’s intentions for the controversial health certificate. A spokesperson for the health department insisted back in June that the NHS app used to certify vaccination status would not be used as a national ID system, describing the scheme as a “simple and secure means” to allow for international travel.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
×