Restaurateurs slam Covid passports as ‘overly complicated’ and ‘discriminatory’

Government guidance encourages restaurants, pubs, and other venues to require customers show proof of vaccination

Many restaurants are planning to maintain current Covid rules such as mask-wearing and social distancing, but are not keen on enforcing Covid passports (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Restaurant owners have criticised the government’s advice for hospitality firms to consider making customers show proof of vaccination as “overly complicated” and “near impossible to enforce”.

It comes after ministers published guidance for businesses on how to safely reopen as they prepare to lift all remaining lockdown restrictions on 19 July.

The guidance said that restaurants, pubs and other hospitality businesses will be encouraged to consider requiring customers to show vaccine passports, also known as Covid passports, in order to enter the premises.

But the industry said the advice was “disappointing”, adding that MPs previously acknowledged that requiring such proof of vaccination would be “a very difficult thing to implement in a domestic hospitality setting”.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of the industry body UKHospitality, said the government must provide a “whole suite of guidance” that sets out how vaccine passports should work in the sector “for us to decide whether we are willing to adopt this on a voluntary basis”.

Andreas Antona, chef restaurateur and owner of two Michelin-starred restaurants in Birmingham and Kenilworth, told The Independent that information regarding vaccine passports has been “scant”.

He said: “Vaccine passports are something the government needs to be more decisive on, instead of putting the onus on individuals and corporate decisions.

“But more than that, I just think they are immaterial. In my restaurants, following consultations with all the staff and managers, we’ve decided to stick to the current protocols we already have in place anyway, so why would passports make a difference?”

The current rules require hospitality staff to wear masks and practice social distancing, and customers can only be served alcohol when they are seated. Antona said most restaurants and hospitality venues have become used to operating this way and will likely carry on.

“Our decision is to keep working with current restrictions, we won’t be increasing capacity so tables will still be socially distanced to help reassure our customers that their safety and that of our staff is at the heart of what we’re doing,” he said.

“I don’t believe [the vaccine passport] will make the slightest difference, except in order to travel abroad. Otherwise, it’s just overly complicated.”

Jamie Shail, owner of hotel and restaurant Rothay Manor in the Lake District, said he felt the passports were, “to an extent, discriminatory to young people” who were less likely to have been double-vaccinated yet.

He added that enforcing the use of Covid passports would be “nearly impossible”.

“I don’t know what the format of the passport would be, but I’d need to have it in advance of someone’s stay, but what if they turn up and don’t have it on them? Do I tell them they can’t stay or dine?” he told The Independent.

“It starts putting guests on the back foot and they will very quickly stop wanting to travel or eat out if they get turned away for not having a Covid passport.”

Shail, who has also decided to keep current Covid rules in his venue, also worries about how his young staff would be empowered to enforce the use of such documentation in the face of older customers who may not be willing to cooperate.

“It will be harder on staff if they have to, on top of all the other measures already in place, ask people to show their vaccine status,” he said. “How do I tell my young staff, many of whom are female, to ask an older 50, 60-something year old man to show his status?”

John Martin, owner of Dough and Brew in Warwick, said he welcomed anything that would enable his restaurant operate at full capacity, but added: “I feel though that a large part of society is against the idea so to exclusively operate with a passport policy would be futile.

“It maybe useful in allowing staff to continue to work through rather than the current situation that sees us with little or no support from the government and staff being told to isolate and most of them too young to have had a jab yet.

“More restaurants are closing now because of staff shortages than ever. Whilst the vaccination program will protect the NHS it isn’t protecting hospitality.”