Amelia Cutting
On 26 July, an education minister refused to rule out the possibility that University students would have to show a vaccine passport before returning to University for in-person lectures and to live in halls of residence.
Minister for Children and Families Vicky Ford was asked about the policy. She told the Today Programme: ‘I can’t comment on things that haven’t been announced. But one does need to look at every practicality to make sure that we can continue to prioritise education.’
Should this be given the all-clear, the policy would demonstrate another U-turn in the government’s vaccine passport policy after the Prime Minister promised they would only be enforced for foreign travel.
Last week, Johnson sparked outrage and debate when he announced that proof of vaccination could be a legal condition for entry to nightclubs from September.
Conservative MPs have branded this push for vaccine passports on universities ‘wrongheaded’, suggesting it could create a ‘social hierarchy’ of those who have been jabbed and those who have not.
Labour Leader Keir Starmer also attacked the plans: ‘I just want to be very clear about this, I don’t want to see vaccine passports used on an everyday basis.’
Why are they considering this decision?
Boris Johnson is said to be ‘raging’ about how few young people have come forward to get their jab. The Times has reported that he hopes the move to make vaccination compulsory for university students pressures young people to take the jab.
NHS England’s latest figures show that just 58.6% of young people aged 18-24 have had one injection. This is a stark difference to the rates of 90%+ in older age groups.
The virus is currently spreading amongst the lower age groups, with case numbers among those in their twenties higher than any age group since the start of the pandemic.
Proposals compared to a ‘dystopia’
Tory MP Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, compared these plans to ‘something out of Huxley’s Brave New World where people with vaccine passports will be engineered into social hierarchies – those who will be given higher education or those who do not.’
In addition, Professor Adam Finn, Deputy Head of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said on Sunday that ministers needed to be careful about how they promoted the vaccinations.
‘Nudging can be done but it has to be done in a way that people don’t feel that people are being pushed into something they don’t want to do.’
Young people’s reactions to the proposal
One student, 17, and in the process of applying to university understands the incentive behind the proposal, but disagrees that it should be enforced:
“I see the intention in requiring double jabs to return to University, however it is severely taking away that choice and the ability for people to have access to higher education if they do not want to have the vaccine.”
Another person, 20, said she can also see the thought behind the proposal but to apply this to University is too harsh.
A current first year student says she doesn’t see the requirement to have two jabs as a big deal: ”I don’t see having two jabs as much of a sacrifice to be able to have the full experience and tuition at University’, she told me.
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Amelia Cutting
I'm Amelia- a graduate from the University of Leeds and current NCTJ Level 5 Diploma student!