The NHS COVID Pass will no longer be available for domestic purposes in England from May 12.
This means that venues and events can no longer request the COVID Pass as a condition of entry.
The COVID Pass has not been legally required to enter venues and events in England since they were scrapped at the end of January, but some businesses and venues had chosen to voluntarily request it to verify patrons’ status.
Passes had been made mandatory in the country in December to limit the spread of the Omicron variant.
The domestic pass allowed users to show coronavirus records to venues or events that wished to view vaccination status.
There was uproar from industry professionals following the introduction of the COVID Pass in England in December. Parklife festival and Warehouse Project co-founder Sacha Lord said that the passports would “kill the spontaneity” of going on a night out.
In January, Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) welcomed the decision to remove the requirement to show a COVID Pass “following an extremely difficult two years for the night time economy and hospitality sector”.
The NHS COVID Pass for international travel will still be available as normal.
Image: Denise Jans on Unsplash