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UK won't issue 'immunity' COVID-19 passports

Published:Sunday | February 7, 2021 | 11:11 AM
General view of a deserted street in Mayfair, London, Sunday, February 7, 2021, as the third national lockdown, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, continues. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)

LONDON — A British official says the country is not considering issuing so-called “immunity passports” for those who have been given the coronavirus vaccine but they could ask their doctor for written proof of their vaccine status if they need to travel.

Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said Sunday that vaccine passports would be discriminatory and officials did not want getting vaccinated to be “made in some way mandatory through a passport.”

Countries including Greece have said they will waive quarantine requirements for those who have had their jabs.

Zahawi said some 1,000 vaccines were given in an hour on Saturday, as the UK races to meet its target of giving all over-70s and frontline health care workers their first dose by February 15.

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