No vaccine certificates needed to visit UK pubs and restaurants for now

Pubs and restaurants won’t require vaccine certificates when they reopen under the current plans for an exit from lockdown in England, Minister for COVID Vaccine Deployment Nadhim Zahawi said on Tuesday.

Step 2 out of the roadmap will see shops and pub gardens reopen next week, while the reopening of indoor hospitality venues in step 3 is slated for May.

“Domestically, the step two, which we’re coming up to, (and) step three, there will be absolutely no issue around pubs or restaurants requiring any form of certification,” Zahawi told Sky News.

“But it’s only responsible as we see how this virus behaves, as we see how other countries are utilising technology to make sure that they keep the virus under control, then we should look at the same thing.”

Zahawi added that the parliament will get to vote on any plan to introduce vaccine certification for use in domestic businesses and hospitality settings, emphasising no decisions had been made yet.

“We haven’t even got to the state where we decided what we want to do on this domestically, because there are so many issues that do need careful consideration,” Zahawi told Times Radio.

“We’re not there yet, but… if we do get to that place, then of course we’ll go to parliament for a vote.”