Yahoo News The six minefields of pub vaccine passports
After weeks of vacillation on the matter, Boris Johnson has given his clearest indication so far that vaccine passports (proof of vaccination) could be required for people hoping to visit the pub once more.
"It may be up to individual publicans, it may be up to the landlord,” the Prime Minister told MPs at PMQs, suggesting that the Government would not intervene if individual publicans and hospitality bosses decided to mandate the vaccine passports.
The pronouncement marks a stark departure from the Government’s previous position that such passports would be “discriminatory”, and already lockdown-sceptic Tory MPs as well as those in the hospitality industry have been critical of the position. A Telegraph poll meanwhile reveals that 56 per cent of the public are in favour of compulsory vaccinations for those visiting pubs or entertainment venues.
But what would the practicalities be, and how on earth could it be enforced? These are the pitfalls landlords around the country foresee.
Enforcing it
The practicalities of policing vaccine passports may prove difficult, and the costs of preparing staff to do so or even hiring additional security may prove impossible for businesses in an industry that has already been brought to its knees.
“Either do it and have the right technology to make it work easily, efficiently, and without affecting our takings and customers, or don’t,” argues Michelle Utz, landlady of The Hoop pub in Essex. “How can Boris expect me or my staff to interrogate customers? We are not trained to do so, nor have the time. We’d lose so much in revenue.”
The backlash
The logical extension to the issue of enforcement will be the reaction of the public to being barred for being unable to produce a vaccine passport. Some hospitality bosses fear this could lead to resentment or even violence from disgruntled customers.
“It would create logistical challenges at best, and violent flashpoints at worst,” fears Mark Lewis, chief executive of Hospitality Action. “Hospitality workers have had to negotiate huge levels of stress these past 12 months. Forcing them to police access to their venues would add yet another stress they could do without.”
Potential for faked passports
The government’s handling of test-and-trace has not inspired confidence among landlords that the systems to monitor vaccine passports will be in place or work well enough to discourage people from faking documentation.
“They need to come up with a robust national system which makes it impossible for people to abuse, so we don’t have to deal with forgeries,” says Sean Hughes, landlord of The Boot in St Albans. “If there’s not a consistent, unified, thought-through approach which is a legal requirement, I can’t see landlords taking it on themselves. We have already had the responsibility of pretty much launching the NHS track-and-trace, and that was annoying enough.”
The optics of showing papers at the door
One of the biggest objections from the industry is that prohibitive posters in windows or no-entry signs at the door would represent a gross inversion of what the hospitality trade should be all about: welcoming customers.
“Pubs are already proven to be one of the most safe and secure environments due to all the measures in place from previous reopenings,” said Alicia Nelson, landlady of The White Lion in St Albans. “This would only act as a further deterrent to customers from visiting pubs that are in dire financial situations as it is.”
Social splits
Perhaps the most fractious issue will be that, by the time pubs reopen for indoor service, in May as it is currently hoped, the vaccine will only just be starting to roll out to the under-50s. This could mean that younger people could be barred entry from pubs, restaurants, and cafés, generating a two-tier system and exacerbating the huge generational divides which have formed over lockdown.
Hospitality venues might also face having to split up parties where some members have been vaccinated and others haven’t. “Pregnant women might not have had vaccine,” says Lauren Hawes, landlady of the Great Northern Pub in Hertfordshire. "Imagine someone going out with their partner for an evening out and she gets rejected purely for being pregnant."
Lack of guidance
Many in the trade are incredulous that the Government continues to pass the buck and put enforcement on publicans and restaurateurs rather than giving clear guidance. “Ill thought-out comments like this from the PM only compound the issues for the industry,” says Heath Ball, the landlord of the Red Lion And Sun in North London. “Saying that it may be up to individual publicans to request vaccine passports from their customers adds to the confusion. This latest comment just adds further complexity to our reopening plans and adds to the confusion returning customers are already feeling.”
However…
The reception to the idea of vaccine passports hasn’t been universally negative, especially if it could mean a boost to customer numbers inside pubs. “It would be interesting to see if they remove the need for social distancing inside venues,” admits Luke French, chef-owner of JÖRO in Sheffield. “If policy was that vaccine passports meant absolutely no distancing, and maximum capacity, then it would be understandable why landlords or restaurateurs might introduce compulsory passports.”
