London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Sep 09, 2025

UK mulls introduction of vaccine passports at large venues to avoid another Covid-19 lockdown, vaccines minister says

UK mulls introduction of vaccine passports at large venues to avoid another Covid-19 lockdown, vaccines minister says

Major public events could lead to a “real spike” in Covid-19 cases, so vaccine passports may be introduced at venues from late September to prevent that and avoid closing the economy, the UK's Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said.
Demanding proof of vaccination before concerts, festivals and other crowded events is “the sort of right thing to do,” Zahawi insisted in an interview on Sky's Trevor Phillips on Sunday program.

According to the minister, those who didn't get both shots of the jab must be barred from public gatherings “to make sure the whole economy remains open” in Britain, which has already seen almost seven million confirmed cases and over 133,000 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Zahawi promised to do “everything in my power” to avoid another lockdown, assuring that putting restrictions on people's freedoms was “against the DNA of this government.”

“We see infection rates rise because of the close interaction of people, that's how the virus spreads, if people are in close spaces in large numbers we see spikes appearing,” he said, explaining the epidemiological dangers posed by major public events.

However, forcing the venues to operate in the “open-shut-open-shut” mode as it happened during the coronavirus curbs last year would become “the worst thing” that the government could do to them, Zahawi pointed out. The vaccine passports will allow them to “open safely and sustainably in the long term.”

The cabinet is still looking at whether to introduce vaccination passports for “venues that could end up causing a real spike in infections” by the end of September, the minister pointed out.

Several mass events that were held in the UK this summer have been blamed for causing spikes in coronavirus cases.

The coastal town of Newquay in Cornwall has seen the highest rate of infection in England after hosting the Boardmasters festival mid-August. According to Cornwall Council, some 4,700 new cases could've been linked to the event, which was attended by more than 50,000, thus putting the infection rate at over 2,000 per 100,000 people.

The worsening of the epidemiological situation was also registered in East Suffolk in late July as 40,000 flocked to the Latitude festival held in the area. In the week after the gathering, East Suffolk became the only English district to see a rise in the infection rate, which jumped from 58.5 to almost 241 per 100,000 people.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Court Staff Cover Up Banksy Image of Judge Beating a Protester
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
Elon Musk Poised to Become First Trillionaire Under Ambitious Tesla Pay Plan
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
Burning the Minister’s House Helped Protesters to Win Justice: Prabowo Fires Finance Minister in Wake of Indonesia Protests
Brazil Braces for Fallout from Bolsonaro Trial by corrupted judge
The Country That Got Too Rich? Public Spending Dominates Norway Election
Nearly 40 Years Later: Nike Changes the Legendary Slogan Just Do It
Generations Born After 1939 Unlikely to Reach Age One Hundred, New Study Finds
End to a four-year manhunt in New Zealand: the father who abducted his children to the forests was killed, the three siblings were found
Germany Suspends Debt Rules, Funnels €500 Billion Toward Military and Proxy War Strategy
EU Prepares for War
BMW Eyes Growth in China with New All‑Electric Neue Klasse Lineup
Trump Threatens Retaliatory Tariffs After EU Imposes €2.95 Billion Fine on Google
Tesla Board Proposes Unprecedented One-Trillion-Dollar Performance Package for Elon Musk
US Justice Department Launches Criminal Mortgage-Fraud Probe into Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook
Escalating Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America: A Growing Crisis
US and Taiwanese Defence Officials Held Secret Talks in Alaska
Report: Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission in North Korea Ordered by Trump in 2019 Ended in Failure
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Florida Murder Case: The Adelson Family, the Killing of Dan Markel, and the Trial of Donna Adelson
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Big Tech Executives Laud Trump at White House Dinner, Unveil Massive U.S. Investments
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
‘Looks Like a Wig’: Online Users Express Concern Over Kate Middleton
Brand-New $1 Million Yacht Sinks Just Fifteen Minutes After Maiden Launch in Turkey
Here’s What the FBI Seized in John Bolton Raid — and the Legal Risks He Faces
Florida’s Vaccine Revolution: DeSantis Declares War on Mandates
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
"The Situation Has Never Been This Bad": The Fall of PepsiCo
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
The Fashion Designer Who Became an Italian Symbol: Giorgio Armani Has Died at 91
Putin Celebrates ‘Unprecedentedly High’ Ties with China as Gazprom Seals Power of Siberia-2 Deal
China Unveils New Weapons in Grand Military Parade as Xi Hosts Putin and Kim
Queen Camilla’s Teenage Courage: Fended Off Attempted Assault on London Train, New Biography Reveals
Scottish Brothers Set Record in Historic Pacific Row
Rapper Cardi B Cleared of Liability in Los Angeles Civil Assault Trial
Google Avoids Break-Up in U.S. Antitrust Case as Stocks Rise
Couple celebrates 80th wedding anniversary at assisted living facility in Lancaster
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
The White House on LinkedIn Has Changed Their Profile Picture to Donald Trump
"Insulted the Prophet Muhammad": Woman Burned Alive by Angry Mob in Niger State, Nigeria
Trump Responds to Death Rumors – Announces 'Missile City'
Court of Appeal Allows Asylum Seekers to Remain at Essex Hotel Amid Local Tax Boycott Threats
Germany in Turmoil: Ukrainian Teenage Girl Pushed to Death by Illegal Iraqi Migrant
United Krack down on human rights: Graham Linehan Arrested at Heathrow Over Three X Posts, Hospitalised, Released on Bail with Posting Ban
Asian and Middle Eastern Investors Avoid US Markets
Ray Dalio Warns of US Shift to Autocracy
×