News coming out of the UK says that clubs will require punters to be fully vaccinated, with proof, by the end of September.

The announcement by Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi follows what Brits are unofficially calling ‘Freedom Day’ (July 19th), with all restrictions across the country including measures for music venues and clubs being rolled back.

The September date coincides with the current ability to get vaccinated and two full weeks for the vaccine to do its job!

It follows close to 9 months of various restrictions that have heavily affected the live music scene in the UK and led to club closures and various emergency fundraising efforts to avoid just that.

For now, until September, the UK Government is recommending people use their NHS Covid-19 Pass to prove their negative status.

With the UK still recording almost 50,000 new cases daily this seems like a step towards lowering overall cases and deaths but isn’t welcome by all.

Night Time Industries Association CEO Michael Kill said: “Leaving aside the fact that this is yet another chaotic u-turn that will leave night clubs who have been planning for reopening for months will now have to make more changes to the way they operate — this is still a bad idea. 80% of nightclubs have said they do not want to implement Covid passports, worrying about difficulties with enforcing the system and a reduction in spontaneous consumers, as well as being put at a competitive disadvantage with pubs and bars that aren’t subject to the same restrictions and yet provide similar environments.”

While the sentiment might be the right approach from the UK Government, more needs to be done to make it an equitable compromise that won’t adversely affect just clubs (a similar situation in Australia).

Do you think Australian clubs and festivals should require a COVID-19 vaccination before entry?