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Vaccine passport requirement for clubs in UK to go ahead

A Government spokesperson said "there is no change in our position" when asked about the matter

The UK Government has confirmed that it will press on with plans to introduce vaccine passports as a requirement for entry to clubs in England starting next month. 

Boris Johnson’s spokesperson said the Government would not U-turn on the plan as has been recently speculated, and that the plans will definitely go ahead as of 1st October.

"We set out broadly our intention to require vaccination for nightclubs and some other settings," Johnson's spokesperson said this week. "We will be coming forward in the coming weeks with detail for that."

Plans to introduce vaccine passports as a requirement for entry to clubs in England were originally announced in July, with the UK Government saying that the requirement would come in place once everybody who was 18 and over had been given a chance to have both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. 

"We are planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather," Johnson said when he originally announced the plans. "Proof of a negative test will no longer be sufficient."

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed this week that vaccine passports will be required for entry to nightclubs and many large events from later this month.

Since fully reopening on 19th July, clubs in England have largely been left to determine and run their own measures on whether testing or vaccination for COVID-19 would be required to enter a venue. Many venue owners have said that they have still not received any official guidance on how the vaccine passport measures might be put in place and be enforced.

It's recently been confirmed, however, that vaccine passports will be generated through the NHS app, and it's expected that people will simply be able to show the passport through the app as an additional check before entering a venue.

Last month, London club Heaven got involved in the push to get young people vaccinated against COVID-19, by opening its doors to become a vaccination centre.