Covid-19 vaccine passport
Afterdancing aroundthe idea of having covid-19 vaccine passports in England, the government have decided toscrapthe idea. The ‘passport’ would have shown proof of having been double vaccinated and would have been required to enter crowded venues, such as night clubs. This decision toditchthe plan is asharpUturn as just a few days before,‘ministers defended the plans as a way ofmitigatingagainst super spreader events.’
Shahid Javid, The health secretary, said that people instinctively dislike the idea of vaccine passports and there wasn’t any point in just having them‘for the sake of it.’ Another MP said they are "divisive, unworkable and expensive”.
They are, however, being used successfully in other countries. The French Presidentstuck his neck out by introducing them in July. He said that either a vaccine passport or a negative test would be needed to enter large venues as well as restaurants and bars. He took agambleby announcing the plan and it was a realjaw dropper. Despite thousands protesting against the pass sanitaire, ‘nearly 10 million extra people got their firstjab.’
Italy, Denmark and Greece have similar passes and the British government have said that they’ll keep the ideain reserve so it will be interesting to see if theyfollow suit.
Summary without vocab in bold
After dancing around the idea of having covid-19 vaccine passports in England, the government have decided to scrap the idea. The ‘passport’ would have shown proof of having been double vaccinated and would have been required to enter crowded venues, such as night clubs. This decision to ditch the plan is a sharp Uturn as just a few days before, ‘ministers defended the plans as a way of mitigating against super spreader events.’
Shahid Javid, The health secretary, said that people instinctively dislike the idea of vaccine passports and there wasn’t any point in just having them ‘for the sake of it.’ Another MP said they are "divisive, unworkable and expensive”.
They are, however, being used successfully in other countries. The French President stuck his neck out by introducing them in July. He said that either a vaccine passport or a negative test would be required to enter large venues as well as restaurants and bars. He took a gamble by announcing the plan and the French were shocked - it was a real jaw dropper. Despite thousands protesting against the pass sanitaire, ‘nearly 10 million extra people got their first jab.’
Italy, Denmark and Greece have similar passes and the British government have said that they’ll keep the idea in reserve so it will be interesting to see if they follow suit.
Glossary
dancing around
To keep changing your mind about something
scrap
To decide not to continue with something
ditch
To decide not to continue with something
sharp
Used to talk about a change - quick or large
Uturn
A complete change in policy. This word is usually used to talk about a 180 degree change that a vehicle makes when it turns around.
ministers
An official in charge of a government department
mitigating
Reducing the effects of something
instinctively
To have an immediate feeling about something, without thinking much about it
for the sake of it
When something is done because it’s seen as important or enjoyable instead of actually achieving an aim
divisive
Something that causes people to disagree and argue with each other
stuck his neck out
To take a risk and do something that might make others angry
gamble
To take a risk in the hope that it will benefit you or others
jaw dropper
Something that is very surprising
jab
An injection
To keep something in reserve
To keep something as an option to use at a later date
follow suit
To do the same thing that someone else or others have done
Questions
Are vaccine passports being used where you live?
What are the pros and cons of vaccine passports in your opinion?
Do you think they’re a good idea?
Can you think of a time when the government of your country/the country where you live made an unpopular decision? What happened? How did people react?