Ministers looking at Israel 'Green Pass' scheme to get Britain moving

Will Israel’s jab passport scheme get Britain moving again? Ministers are looking at ‘Green Pass’ which allows the vaccinated to enter restaurants, bars, concert venues and gyms

  • Ministers in both countries preparing for talks on Green Pass scheme
  • In Israel, Green Pass shows date the holder had a jab or recovered from Covid
  • It is valid for six months and can be printed out or displayed on an app 

Ministers want to harness Israeli expertise as they examine possible vaccination passport schemes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

Following high-level discussions between officials, Ministers in both countries are now preparing for talks on Israel’s innovative Green Pass scheme, which allows those who have been vaccinated or had Covid-19 to enter places such as concert venues and gyms. 

The move may provide clues about how vaccination passports could work in the UK, though the Government is expected to develop its own system rather than buy Israel’s technology.

In Israel, a Green Pass shows the date the holder had a jab or recovered from Covid. It is valid for six months and can be printed out or displayed on an app. 

Ministers want to harness Israeli expertise as they examine possible vaccination passport schemes, The Mail on Sunday can reveal

A code is scanned when the person enters a venue, with children added to a parent’s pass.

The Government is expected to publish its Covid ‘certification’ review in early April, with Downing Street insiders confirming the Green Pass was ‘something we’re looking very closely at’.

Boris Johnson became embroiled in a row last week when he suggested it may fall to pub landlords to decide whether to serve those who had not been vaccinated, before adding: ‘I do think there is going to be a role for certification.’

It comes as the PM faces mounting pressure to allow British holidaymakers who have been vaccinated or tested negative to travel to countries with low infection rates or where a high proportion of the population has been vaccinated.

Boris Johnson became embroiled in a row last week when he suggested it may fall to pub landlords to decide whether to serve those who had not been vaccinated, before adding: ‘I do think there is going to be a role for certification’

Ministers are to consider proposals that would require all travellers arriving in Britain to take a Covid test. 

Countries would be divided into a traffic-light system, depending on the risk of new variants and the success of the nation’s vaccine programmes. 

People arriving from ‘green’ countries would need only to have a rapid-result lateral flow test. 

Those from ‘amber’ countries would require a negative result from a gold standard PCR test before travel, a lateral flow test on arrival and some form of quarantine. Mandatory hotel quarantine would be needed for arrivals from ‘red list’ countries.

Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, BA boss Sean Doyle says: ‘We cannot delay the planning process that needs to get under way to restart complex airline operations. If we do, we risk missing the entire summer, a near-fatal blow to the industry. ‘

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