No jabs? No footie, clubs or sunshine hols, young told

PREMIER League football fans who have not been fully vaccinated could be barred from attending matches from October, under plans being discussed by Ministers.

The mandatory requirement would extend to autumn rugby internationals, major concerts and spectator events of 20,000 or more as part of the Prime Minister’s drive to turn Covid into a ‘manageable menace’.

Government sources said officials had entered talks with the Premier League over potentially moving to compulsory doublevaccination status for supporters attending matches, part of the drive to keep the country moving in the run-up to Christmas. Ministers say the move appears increasingly likely, although decisions have not been finalised.

Meanwhile, thousands of young people crammed into nightclubs across the country at the weekend, despite fears the venues could incubate ‘super-spreader’ outbreaks.

At the Casino Rooms in Rochester, hundreds queued on Friday for an event marking the reopening of the club, which describes itself as ‘ Kent’s biggest and most well attended venue’. A passer-by said: ‘Nobody in the queue seemed to be worried about Covid.’

Last night a Government source said a social media blitz was being planned to encourage more under30s to get jabbed.

Two-thirds of England’s 8.5 million 18- to- 29- year- olds have had their first vaccine, a figure higher than many originally thought likely. But that still means about 2.9 million have yet to have it.

Health officials are concerned they will be unable to convince large numbers of them to get inoculated – either due to a belief that they are too young for Covid to cause them much of a problem personally, because of anti-vaxxer sentiment or just due to lethargy. The source said the social-media blitz would focus on foreign holidays and the fact that a range of countries – including Spain, Portugal and Greece – will allow British tourists in if they have been fully vaccinated, without them needing to undergo Covid tests.

‘We’ll be using social media to remind young people that getting jabbed is not just the right thing for their health,’ the source said. ‘It’s also the gateway to flying off to a sun-kissed beach this summer.

‘ There are many countries – including Spain – which will let in people who’ve had two vaccinations so the message is: get doublejabbed and get yourself a holiday.’

NHS figures show the number of 18-to-29-year-olds turning up for vaccination has slowed. In the week to July 4, 563,041 adults under 30 in England received their first jab – about 80,000 a day. But within a fortnight that rate more than halved, with 195,704 adults under 30 getting their first dose in the week ending July 18 – about 28,000 a day.

I n another move announced by Boris Johnson last week, nightclubs in England will be legally required to use Covid passports by the end of September, by which time all over-18s will have been offered two jabs.