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Upcoming vaccine passports worry nightclub industry

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Upcoming vaccine passports worry nightclub industry

(14 Aug 2021) LEAD IN:
After 18 months of closure, nightclubs in England were allowed to reopen on 18 July.
However vaccine passports will be necessary for party-goers by the end of September, according to Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister.
While the government hasn’t announced the details of this measure, the industry sees it as an extra burden.

STORY-LINE:
Dancing your cares away.
After a year and a half of coronavirus induced worries and restrictions, club-goers couldn’t wait to hit the dance floor when nightclubs re-opened in England last month.
The reopening of nightclubs was part of the last phase of the lifting or restrictions put in place by the government.
But on the same day, Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a warning:
“We do reserve the right to mandate certification at any point if it’s necessary to reduce transmission. And I should submit that by the end of September when all over 18’s will have had their chance to have been double jabbed, we are planning to make full vaccination the condition of entry to nightclubs and other venues where large crowds gather,” Johnson said.
Since then, all venues across the country have been very busy with events and live performances.
But the idea of a vaccine passport is now looming.
At live-music venue The Piano Works, COVID-19 measures already go above current guidelines.
Employees and clients have to get their temperature checked.
And starting from Monday (16 August), waiters will also have to get tested every week.
For Operations Director Tristan Muffat, these measures are sufficient and so-called vaccine passports would discriminate against their youthful clientele.
“If we’re discriminating against people, you know, potentially our youngest customers, it’s like going up the queue and saying you, you, you and you can’t come in because you’re too young to have had your vaccination or you haven’t had the opportunity. It goes against our ethos as a company at The Piano Works completely,” says Moffat.
The venue is also rolling out a new website to not only view the menu, but also place orders and pay for the bill.
Reinforced cleaning and all other coronavirus-related measures could cost up to £100,000 a year just for this business.
The industry says that any new restriction will be an added burden for them. Vaccine passports would potentially require additional staffing.
In the same London district, the world-renowned Fabric nightclub has also stepped up its sanitary measures.
The venue is currently relying on improved air ventilation and daily testing for their employees, who also have to wear gloves during their shift.
Operations Director Luke Laws is mainly worried about the scope of such passports.
“How do you check? What’s expected of you? Is it just the U.K. one? Can we integrate EU, international vaccines? And if you have people that can’t have the vaccine for health reasons, how do they come and enjoy a night out? There’s so many variables. And let’s be perfectly honest here, there’s no perfect solution to any of this,” says Laws.
In their strategy against the virus, another club had adopted an unusual strategy — turning its dance floor into… a vaccination centre.
The single-day special event was organised at Heaven, a venue part of the capital’s LGBTQ+ scene.
But even if the owner of the club encourages everyone to get vaccinated, he’s not in favour of vaccine passports.
Same goes for the representatives of the entire industry, who fear that club-goers will prefer organising their own parties elsewhere.

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