Pubs could be allowed to bar drinkers who cannot prove they have been vaccinated against coronavirus, Boris Johnson has signalled.
And the prime minister said it was “wholly responsible” for care home operators to demand that their staff have the jab as a condition of employment.
The government has resisted calls for mandatory vaccine “passports” to permit individuals to access particular venues, like restaurants and concert halls.
And lawyers have questioned whether it would be legal for employers to demand proof of a jab if the requirement was not already written into workers’ contracts.
Answering questions at the House of Commons Liaison Committee today, Mr Johnson shied away from any state-mandated certification.
But he suggested that, once lockdown restrictions are lifted, venue operators would be within their rights to demand proof of vaccination from customers.
Asked if a vaccine certificate could be required to enter a pub, Mr Johnson said: “I think that that’s the kind of thing – it may be up to individual publicans, it may be up to the landlord.”
Mr Johnson said that the concept of “no jab no job” in particular professions “should not be totally alien to us”, as doctors already have to have hepatitis B jabs.
He said that the idea “doesn’t seem to me to be irresponsible at all, far from it. It is wholly responsible for care home companies to think about requiring vaccinations”.
The PM said that many MPs want tougher restrictions, adding: “I find myself in this long national conversation thinking very deeply about it, and the public have been thinking very deeply about it.
“My view is there is a huge wisdom in the public’s feeling about this. Human beings instinctively recognise when something is dangerous and nasty to them and they can see that Covid is collectively a threat.
“They want us as their government and me as prime minister to take all the actions I can to protect them.”
One care home provider today called for coronavirus vaccinations to be compulsory for all NHS and care staff.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the chief executive of Barchester Healthcare, Pete Calveley, said his company has enforced a policy since January that no new member of staff will be recruited and no new resident admitted unless they have had the vaccination or are prepared to get one.
“We have written to every member of staff on a weekly basis, we have given them up to four meetings personally with a general manager or a divisional director, we have provided evidence of effectiveness, safety and a reduction in transmissibility as it arises,” he said.
Mr Calveley said vaccine-hesitant staff have also been offered a series of webinars with leading molecular biologists so they can raise their questions with experts.
