Scotland is scheduled to introduce vaccine passports for entry to large venues like nightclubs at the start of October. However, Health Secretary, Sajid Javid announced on the Andrew Marr show on 12 September that the government in England will not be implementing this scheme. He didn’t entirely bin the proposal, he rather wants it to be ‘kept in reserve’, as a ‘potential option’ for later.
Earlier that week, the government had announced that they would be introducing the scheme at the end of September. Prime Minister Boris Johnson clarified ‘proof of a negative test’, which had sufficed previously for certain events, would ‘not be enough’. Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi noted that by the end of September all over-18s would have been offered the chance to be double vaccinated, and it would therefore be the right time to introduce vaccine passports. Mr Zahawi argued that nightclubs are an ideal spreading location for the virus; the government wants to avoid a situation of having to potentially shut down nightclubs or go back into lockdown, both of which would be undesirable.
The Scottish government is leading with a different argument to justify their implementation of a similar policy: focusing on incentivising the youth to get vaccinated. With lower vaccination rates among the younger cohorts, Holyrood Health Secretary Humza Yousaf argues that any incentives are helpful.
In terms of student opinion, there is no clear consensus. A key parameter in this debate is that many students see going to a nightclub as a choice. More than one I’ve spoken to have assured me that they would support the measures if it were for essential services, but no-one needs to go to a nightclub. This goes along with a lack of sympathy to those who chose not to have the vaccine. Dippy, a third-year Computer Science student at the University of Sheffield, tells me that given the scientific evidence, there’s no real reason for not getting the vaccine in the first place. A third-year at King’s College London, Erika, says that if people who can get the vaccine chose not to, then venues should be able to refuse them entry in the name of safety.
The idea of public safety and moving past the pandemic is a popular one. Students do not want to go back into lockdown if they can help it. Several students in this vein invoked broader notions of public health. Nikki, a third-year Sociology student at the University of Sheffield based her vaccine passport support largely on ‘keeping us safe’, while Millie, a third-year Psychology student, said that it is important for ‘maintaining some sense of normality’ by keeping cases low. Dippy, quoted earlier added that we should be taking ‘every precaution necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19’.
As noted, the support for the policy is by no means unanimous. A number of students I have spoken to have questioned the reasoning for rejecting a negative COVID test as an alternative to proof of vaccination. Informing this argument for them is the fact that even after a vaccine one can still carry and pass on the virus – not only does accepting a negative test result avoid seemingly forcing people into vaccination (which some are uneasy about), but it may be a better way of keeping COVID out of these spaces, though this relies on the honesty of the public.
In terms of the goal of incentivising those who have yet to be vaccinated to go ahead with it, is this tactic beneficial? One student I spoke to doesn’t think so. Their opinion is that the perception that vaccine passports create may well be one of government interference and intrusions upon liberty, which plays into the narrative of the anti-vax movement. Those who haven’t had the vaccine will likely resent having it ‘forced’ upon them; there may well be more subtle ways to increase youth vaccine uptake that avoid this issue.
Sam, a 6th form student thinks that the policy would influence uptake through its normalisation of the vaccine among younger people, particularly if introduced for larger events like sports matches. So, whilst these changes are not going ahead in England after Javid’s announcement, they may come at a later date, and they are coming soon in Scotland.
For students who want to get out of this pandemic, these passports have a degree of support. But the sentiments of the oppositionist elements among students are likely to be more widespread among the general public and particularly conservative voters, whose support the government is keen to maintain. Perhaps it is no surprise then that they changed their tune.