People in the United Kingdom who have not been “fully vaccinated” against the Chinese coronavirus are reportedly set to be prohibited from attending Premier League football matches by the autumn.
Plans being drawn up by ministers in Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government would require football matches and other large scale events with over 20,000 people in attendance enact vaccine checkpoints and only allow in people who can provide proof of taking two shots of a Covid vaccine.
“The Prime Minister and Health Secretary want to make sure we are doing everything possible to protect people ahead of autumn and winter,” a senior government source told The Telegraph.
“There is a lot of work going on to prepare for the booster programme which will be a crucial line of defence.”
Another government source told the Press Association: “It’s really important that fans are able to continue watching sport over the autumn but we want to ensure that everyone is safe.
“That is why we’re looking at the role vaccines might play in this. It will not only allow full-capacity stadiums but has the added advantage of encouraging people of all ages to go and get their jabs.”
The Daily Mail reported on Friday that the scheme would see guards equipped with scanners for the government’s planned NHS vaccine passport app, to verify that the QR codes are indeed genuine.
The report comes as England manager Gareth Southgate, who failed to defeat Italy in the European championship finals earlier this month, called on younger people in Britain to take the vaccine in order to “get your freedom back”.
“There’s no doubt that the vaccination programme is our best route out of this problem, not only for us as a country but across the world,” Southgate claimed.
“So I just wanted to say how important it is, if you haven’t had your vaccine yet, to go and get it done,” he urged, adding that “for you younger ones especially, it’s the chance for everything to open up, to get your freedom back”.
Aside from mass sporting events, the Press Association also reported that music concerts with as few as 5,000 attendees could be forced to require proof of vaccination.
The government previously denied that domestic vaccine passports would be required in Britain, with Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi saying in December: “Mandating vaccinations is discriminatory and completely wrong… I urge businesses listening to this today not to even think about this. We’ve absolutely no plans for vaccine passports.”
Cabinet Minister Michael Gove also explicitly shot down the idea of requiring health papers for the British citizenry, flatly saying “no” when asked if the government would introduce vaccine passports domestically.
Yet, this month, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has urged “restaurants, pubs, bars, nightclubs and takeaway services” to require health passes as a means of entry by the Autumn.
On Sunday Tory MP Peter Bone said the planned requirement for vaccine papers to attend football matches shows that there is a clash of civilisations currently underway in the United Kingdom, caused by those who “believe that the state knows best, knows what’s in the best interest of everyone, therefore you have to comply with the rules and regulations of the state and they are there to dictate your everyday living. That tends to be the sort of thing that happens in a communist state.”
Bone said that he, among others, take the view that the United Kingdon was built on principles of freedom and “to force someone to have a medical intervention to attend a football match seems absurd.”
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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