Vaccine passports ‘could be mandatory in pubs, bars and restaurants in bid to boost jab rates in young’

Government reportedly considering measures after vaccine uptake slowed in recent weeks

Customers may require Covid-19 certificates or vaccine passports to enter entertainment venues in England from autumn, according to reports.

The government is said to be considering making the documentation mandatory in venues such as pubs, bars and restaurants, where it would be used by customers to prove they have had either both doses of a coronavirus vaccine or a negative test the day before in a bid to tackle the fourth wave of the coronavirus.

It is hoped the move will increase vaccine uptake among the younger demographics, The Times newspaper has reported.

Currently, 86.8 per cent of people in England have had a first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 65.5 per cent have had both, according to official figures from Public Health England.

However, vaccine uptake has slowed, recent figures show, with first doses halving in two weeks. The average number of doses given out per day is at the lowest since April.

The prime minister, Boris Johnson, this week announced that the majority of social distancing measures will be lifted on 19 July, including enforced mask-wearing, despite a rise in cases related to the Delta variant.

Capacity restrictions on pubs, restaurants and other public events are also expected to be lifted.

The number of coronavirus infections linked to the dominant Delta variant have increased by 54,268 in the past week, a rise of 34 per cent, Public Health England has said. The variant now counts for 99 per cent of all cases that have been genetically sequenced.

In total 216,249 confirmed and probable cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant have been identified in the UK, up from 161,981 cases in the previous week.

Hospital admissions for 9 July are at 509, totalling 2,672 in the last week – a jump of 55.9 per cent.

Britons are growing wary of the relaxation of rules: a poll by Ipsos MORI for The Economist on Thursday shows that nearly 70 per cent want to see face masks made compulsory in shops and on public transport for a certain period after 19 July, when the government plans to lift all restrictions in England and 64 per cent would like them to remain in place until coronavirus is controlled worldwide.