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| A small shopping basket filled with vials labeled "COVID-19 - Coronavirus Vaccine" is placed on a UK flag in this illustration taken November 29, 2020. Picture taken November 29, 2020. (File photo by=REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] People who refuse a vaccine for COVID-19 could find normal life curtailed as restaurants, bars, cinemas, and sports venues could block entry to those who don’t have proof they are inoculated, Britain’s new vaccine minister said on Monday.
Several major COVID-19 vaccines announced in weeks, raising hopes that the world could soon return to some semblance of normality after the coronavirus killed 1.46 million people and wiped out a chunk of the global economy. The British minister responsible for the vaccine rollout, Nadhim Zahawi, said getting vaccinated should be voluntary but that Google, Facebook, and Twitter should do more to fact-check opposing views of vaccines.
Asked by the BBC if there would be an immunity passport, Zahawi said a person’s COVID-19 vaccine status might be included in a phone app that would tell local doctors of a person’s status.“The sort of pressure will come to both ways: from service providers - who will say ‘look, prove to us that you have been vaccinated’ - but also we will make the technology as easy and accessible as possible.” Health authorities in many countries have become increasingly concerned in recent years by the growth of anti-vaccine groups, which are especially active on social media. The message, he said, should be that a vaccine is good for the community and the country.
