Pollstar: Following criticism from various sides, and given the country's high vaccination rate, the UK government decided not to implement a vaccine passport requirement for visitors of clubs and events.
The country's health secretary Sajid Javid told the BBC on Sunday morning, Sept. 12: "I think most people, instinctively, don't like the idea. I've never liked to idea of saying to people, 'you must show your papers to do what is just an everyday activity.
3 comments:
This is the first article I have read that noted that there are people in Europe that are against getting the Covid vaccine. I was under the impression that it was mainly an American concern. I was shocked to hear that there were even protests in England about showing proof of vaccination. I do believe I agree with their concerns of having to show proof of vaccination at every public place and activity (maybe not exactly for the reasons that they cited). It seems a bit archaic to me. I do believe that, if health permits, people should get vaccinated but showing cards is a little bit extreme. I am glad they have decided to hold off for a bit. Maybe the concept can be refined if necessary and maybe we can learn a lot from France. I’m not sure anything like that would pass in America without serious protest but it is interesting to think about all of the implications.
I think I am divided about this action. On one hand, I get the point of not having to show papers to do an everyday, or a more casual day-to-day activity, because it just seems like you are making an easy task difficult. But also I am someone who will be more comfortable if everyone is checked for their vaccination statuses before they enter say a bar, because of how difficult it is to socially distance in these places and the fear of getting sick. But I also get why the country would do this, give the high vaccination rate.
This decision by the UK government is disappointing for a number of reasons. The first is that live events are finally becoming feasible again after almost 2 years, and the requirement of vaccines at these places would ensure that it can remain feasible. If this decision backfires and COVID cases rise in the UK, it will be the live entertainment industry that takes the fall for it. Additionally, I found it interesting that the article seemed to attribute this decision to medical freedom protests in the UK. It’s important to note that no politician in the UK has yet made this attribution. If this connection really does exist, that would be additionally disappointing in my opinion, given that protests have grown in platform massively in the last few years. Everything from climate change policies to discrimination law have been protested widely in the UK, and very little political action has been taken to those actions. Making this decision based on the medical freedom protests would mean a clear discrepancy in the efficacy of protesting depending on the political party you do it for.
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