The Briefing Room

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David Aaronovitch presents in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news.

David Aaronovitch and a panel of experts and insiders present in-depth explainers on big issues in the news

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The Briefing Room: Vaccine Passports and Booster Jabs

Vaccine Passports and Booster Jabs

BBC Radio 4 - The Briefing Room, Vaccine Passports and Booster Jabs

How useful might vaccine passports and booster jabs be over the winter?

England, Wales and Northern Ireland won’t have vaccine passports just yet. Next month Scotland will.  But Covid booster jabs are coming across the UK. Do we need them?

Government ministers have been blowing hot and cold about vaccine passports. Now the Westminster government says it is not planning to introduce them to England, though they're being kept as an option should things change. The Welsh government is thinking about them, while Northern Ireland has rejected them for now. In Scotland vaccine passports are coming in on October 1st for nightclubs and large venues.  But booster jabs are coming across the UK. The roll-out for over-50s, frontline health workers and vulnerable groups will begin in days. 

Joining David Aaronovitch to ask if we need vaccine passports and boosters are:

Laure Millet, head of the healthcare policy programme at the Institut Montaigne in Paris
Melinda Mills, Professor of Demography at the University of Oxford and Director of the Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science 
Azra Ghani, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Imperial College London
Natasha Loder, Health Policy Editor at The Economist

Producers: John Murphy, Kirsteen Knight, Soila Apparicio
Editor: Jasper Corbett

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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