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(Adds detail on international travel)
LONDON, April 6 (Reuters) - Vaccine certificates will not be
required to go to a pub or restaurant in England when they first
reopen, Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi said
on Tuesday, adding no decisions had been taken on their use in
the longer term.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday gave the green light
for England to take the next step in easing its third national
lockdown, but gave few details on how vaccine certification
would work.
Step 2 of a roadmap charting plans to gradually reopen the
economy over coming months will see shops and pub gardens reopen
next week, while the reopening of indoor hospitality venues in
step 3 is scheduled for May.
"Domestically, the step 2, which we're coming up to, (and)
step 3, there will be absolutely no issue around pubs or
restaurants requiring any form of certification," Zahawi told
Sky News.
"But it's only responsible as we see how this virus behaves,
as we see how other countries are utilising technology to make
sure that they keep the virus under control, then we should look
at the same thing."
Some lawmakers in Johnson's party object to the idea that
proof of COVID status could be needed to go to a pub or
restaurant, arguing that such a system risks creating a two-tier
society.
Johnson has said he expects so-called vaccine passports to
have a role in international travel, but there were ethical
questions about a certification scheme which only took
vaccination status into account.
Zahawi said that any scheme would be designed not to be
discriminatory, suggesting it would involve data on COVID-19
tests, not just vaccines. But he added no decision had been
taken, and lawmakers would get a vote on any plans.
On international travel, Johnson said he was hopeful it
could restart in May, but it was too early to say for sure,
adding that a taskforce would report back this week on what a
reasonable plan to restart travel could look like.
The chief executive of British Airways said he wass
optimistic that international travel would be able to resume on
May 17, the earliest possible date according to the government
roadmap.
"We remain optimistic that this will happen," BA CEO Sean
Doyle told an online briefing.
(Reporting by Michael Holden, Alistair Smout and Sarah Young;
editing by Estelle Shirbon)
