Sadiq Khan said he was “not in favor” of introducing vaccine passports to London, including on TfL services, as they would constitute a “bureaucratic nightmare”.
Speaking to LBC Radio on Thursday, the Mayor of London said it would be “almost impossible” to introduce a system requiring proof of vaccination on TfL services.
Mr Khan said: “It would just be almost impossible for us to make it work without having massive and massive queues causing big problems. What I’m in favor of is that as many Londoners as possible get not just a jab, but both.
“We need to encourage vaccine uptake, but I think it’s unrealistic to expect us to have vaccine passports in London.”
He added that introducing vaccine passports before everyone has had a chance to receive both vaccines would “deprive them of a service even if they took precautions.”
This week, London approached the administration’s milestone of 10 million Covid jabs according to Sadiq Khan, although official NHS data puts the figure at just under 9.5 million.
But it is feared that some young people are reluctant to get vaccinated, with the daily number of vaccines given having declined in recent weeks and more than 1.5 million over 18s in London are still not vaccinated.
Boris Johnson announced Monday that vaccine passports would be required to enter nightclubs from September.
But Mr Khan criticized the move and said “let’s find other ways to get young people” to get the jab.
The most recent figures show more than 7,000 new positive cases of Covid-19 per day in London while 662 patients are treated for the virus in London hospitals.
Despite the lifting of lockdown restrictions in England this week, the wearing of face coverings remained mandatory on all TfL services.
Sadiq Khan said Thursday there were “just north of 400” TfL law enforcement officers across the London transport network working to ensure cooperation with the rules.
The mayor of London has said he is seeking to make TfL’s face transport condition a regulation so that police can once again help enforce the mask rules.
Mr Khan said it was “too early” to say whether compliance had waned since the law was changed on July 19, but suggested there had been little change.
Figures from last month show 86% of passengers in London followed the rules for face coverings, while two-thirds of those who did not wear masks were granted medical exemption.
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Source: www.times-series.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-07-22 17:09:50
