Covid passports: Firms ‘explore’ coronavirus-negative ‘Freedom passes’ – can you get one?
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Covid-19 is “out of control” in the UK, according to health secretary Matt Hancock, as ministers plunged southern regions of the UK into Tier 4 Covid restrictions. The restrictions will help to reduce infection risks across the country as health workers vaccinate more and more people in a bid to secure herd immunity. The crop of inoculated Brits remains low for the time being, but enough for companies to toy with creating an immunity passport for those who have received one.
How do you get a coronavirus passport?
Hundreds of thousands of people have now received their coronavirus vaccine in the UK.
Of them, 95 percent should now have protection from the virus, meaning they likely wouldn’t need the restrictions others do.
But if the Government dropped restrictions only for vaccinated people, those who haven’t had one may attempt to claim they have and end up further spreading the virus.
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Firms have now started work on documentation which could allow people to bypass restrictions.
These documents would, in theory, give people a personal QR code attached to them with a photo to prove their identity.
People would receive updates to the passport each time they get a negative result from a Covid test centre.
Public places such as pubs and restaurants could then ensure people who enter their location are Covid free.
But where the passports would prove immunity, they could also allow restaurants to reject people who have not had a recent test.
At the moment, not everyone can get one easily, meaning the passports may unfairly benefit some populations more than others.
Ultimately, however, it seems the Government is just testing the water so far, so people can’t get one just yet.
The two firms which received Government funding did so to conduct “exploratory” work on a “freedom passport”, according to a source close to the project.
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The Department of Health source said there are no plans to introduce a passport system as of yet.
They told the Mail: “It is about looking at ways we could use this in future.
“It is looking at whether it would be possible. There are no plans to introduce immunity passports.”
People can still get proof they have had a vaccination, however.
Each person receives a card after receiving the Pfizer Covid vaccine detailing their first dose and upcoming appointments.
People falsely referred to these as passports at first, given the prompt to “make sure you keep this record card in your purse or wallet”.
But they serve only as a physical reminder for people to attend their next appointment.
Public Health England (PHE) stated the card is similar to those already issued with other vaccinations.
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