At yesterday’s press conference, Boris Johnson announced that his government was shelving plans for domestic ‘Covid certificates’ (i.e. vaccine passports), at least for the time being, although this won’t stop private businesses or venues from deciding to use them.
We also learned today that it won’t stop the creation of a two-tier system (as Lara Prendergast warned months ago) for the ‘jabs and jab nots’. New policies have been confirmed that will allow for the double-jabbed to skip quarantine if they’ve been in contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19 (with exemptions granted to under-18s as well).
It’s hard to herald ‘freedom day’ when younger people risk being forced back inside by an NHS tracer at any given moment
Two weeks after receiving their second jab, a fully vaccinated person will be able to opt out of self-isolation, from 16 August onwards. This change to the test and trace policy addresses several problems with the current rules, including their failure to acknowledge that vaccines are game-changers and make people’s interactions significantly safer.
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