It may only be possible to introduce a vaccine passports scheme once all adults have been offered a jab, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has suggested.
He said no decisions had been made but there would be an update on the idea in April. A review will report in June. He also said that there were difficult issues, moral complexities and ethical problems that need to be addressed. Any passport could also reflect a negative test result as well as whether someone was vaccinated or has immunity.
It comes as publicans cast doubt on a suggestion from Mr Johnson that pub-goers might have to prove their vaccination status when venues reopen. A government review into the possible use of coronavirus passports or status certificates to allow people to visit pubs and other venues is taking place under the plans to ease England's lockdown.
The Prime Minister said previous coronavirus infections could be a feature used if they are adopted. "There are three basic components.” He said. “There's the vaccine, there's your immunity you might have had after you've had Covid, and there's testing - they are three things that could work together."
He added: "No decisions have been taken at all. One thing I will make clear is none of this is obviously going to apply on April 12 when it will all be outdoors anyway.
"There are some people who for medical reasons can't get a vaccination, pregnant women can't get a vaccination at the moment, you've got to be careful about how you do this. You might only be able to implement a thorough-going vaccination passport scheme even if you wanted such a thing in the context of when absolutely everybody had been offered a vaccine."
In the Commons, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove told MPs: "A system that relied purely on vaccination would not be appropriate - that what would be right was a system that ensured we could open up our economy to the maximum extent that takes into account both of vaccine status but also of recent test status and indeed potentially also antibody status as well." Under government plans to ease the lockdown in England, pubs will be able to start serving customers indoors - with a size limit applied to groups - from 17 May at the earliest.
The idea of asking pub-goers to show a so-called vaccine passport or certificate was raised at Wednesday's House of Commons Liaison Committee hearing when Boris Johnson was asked whether they were compatible with a free society such as ours. His reply came with him saying: “The concept should not be totally alien to us."
He pointed out that doctors already have to have hepatitis B jabs - although he stressed such a move in future may be up to individual publicans. A Downing Street source earlier said the review would include looking at how people's vaccination and testing status could be stored securely and displayed on a mobile phone, and the circumstances under which such a system could apply.
PM Johnson said: "All sorts of things were being considered and it is a bit premature to speculate on details about how a possible vaccine passport would apply to pubs”. Peter Marks, from nightclub owner Rekom UK, said: “A vaccine certificate could work in his industry and would probably be accepted by customers already used to carrying IDs to get into venues. However, he said he was concerned introducing such a measure could delay the reopening of businesses.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband said that Labour was happy to look at any government proposals for vaccine and testing certification, but he called for clarity for the hospitality industry about how the measures could work in practice.
He said the hospitality industry had been through difficult times over the last year, adding: "And suddenly the prime minister comes along, out of the blue, to say here's a new responsibility you're going to have to deal with, without much clarity."
