COVID Vaccine Passports Handed to Fully-Vaxxed Fans Could Be A Requirement To Watch Football Matches

RJ Pierce, Tech Times 25 July 2021, 02:07 pm

COVID-19-vaccinated people, specifically those who've been fully inoculated, might need to present their vaccination passports at large-scale football matches like the Premier League from here on out.

(Photo : Jacob King/PA Images via Getty Images)
Festival goer Ellie Harries receives her 2nd Pfizer vaccine dose at a Covid-19 vaccination bus at Latitude festival in Henham Park, Southwold, Suffolk. Picture date: Sunday July 25, 2021.

The mandate is set to take effect come October, according to a report on ITV. Since COVID vaccination passports are only given to fully vaccinated individuals, it means that those who've only received one shot of two-shot vaccines, such as Pfizer or Moderna, will not be allowed to attend the matches.

Any event with an audience capacity surpassing 20,000 attendees will be subject to the mandate. Furthermore, it could also be extended to lower-tier divisions and other sports throughout England, not just football.

This news comes after it's been reported that any crowded venue in England--be it a sports arena or a nightclub--will strictly require people to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 from the end of September, writes The Independent. It is also part of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to convince all adults throughout England to get and complete their vaccine shots.

Aside from the fans, athletes are also being considered with regards to the COVID-19 vaccination passports. It's been reported that several clubs have already begun talks with the UK government regarding which steps to take next.

COVID Vaccine Passports In Danger of Being Faked

While the initial decision seems sound, there's still the danger of COVID vaccination passports being faked, however.

A recent report by Reuters revealed that there's now a booming illegal market for counterfeit vaccination passports, which could spell doom to vaccination drives all over the globe. Since extremely contagious variants such as Delta are now wreaking havoc, even a single infected individual with a fake passport can still sneak in and unknowingly spread the virus.

If the UK government (as well as other world governing bodies) doesn't formulate a plan to deal with vaccine passport counterfeiting, it might cause COVID cases to surge yet again.

In The Wake of Delta, Are Vaccines Working?

Short answer: YES. Any approved vaccine, no matter the type, offers protection against the Delta COVID variant. But among all, it seems like AstraZeneca offers the most protection.

(Photo : Timm Schamberger/picture alliance via Getty Images)
25 July 2021, Bavaria, Nuremberg: Doctor Dieter Rührig (l) vaccinates a fan of 1. FC Nürnberg before the match against Erzgebirge Aue. Vaccination takes place in a vaccination bus in front of the stadium with the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. Photo: Timm Schamberger/dpa - IMPORTANT NOTE: In accordance with the regulations of the DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga and/or the DFB Deutscher Fußball-Bund, it is prohibited to use or have used photographs taken in the stadium and/or of the match in the form of sequence pictures and/or video-like photo series.

Various studies indicate that even on the first shot, the AstraZeneca jab offers at least 76% protection against infection from the Delta variant. And for a fully-vaccinated individual, that efficacy rises to as much as 90%. It's not just against Delta too, but also Kappa--another dangerous COVID variant that popped up recently.

Delta is still leading the headlines for now, though. In the US alone, it's been determined that 99 percent of all recent COVID-19 deaths are unvaccinated people, with Delta being the most dominant variant of the virus. Then again, your best chance at protecting yourself from hospitalization and death from Delta is to complete your shots, whether it's a single or double-jab vaccine.

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Written by RJ Pierce