Vaccine passports are controversial yet the overwhelming majority of people in Northern Ireland do choose to get jabbed

The health minister has retreated from implementing a vaccine passport measure for hospitality in Northern Ireland.

Robin Swann is instead introducing proof of jabs as a legal requirement only for entry to licensed premises.

The change is being presented as a phased approach rather than a u-turn. But it is a major shift in policy even so. Previously coffee shops or fast food restaurants would have fallen within the legal requirement.

The plan had been controversial politically, and with the hospitality sector. There is deep opposition in sections of the community to any hint of people being put under pressure to have vaccines. At the same time, however, take-up of the jab rollout has been massive — particularly among over 60s, where it has been almost universal. That suggests people in risk categories overwhelmingly believe the consensus medical view that being jabbed staves off the worst manifestations of being infected with Covid.

But there is a paradox in the thinking of many of the people opposed to compulsory proof of vaccines — they tend also to be opposed to lockdowns. Yet it is vaccines that offer the fastest route out of such restrictions.

In fact the efficacy of Covid jabs again raises the question of why health and care workers are not being required in NI to have them, given that they are often dealing with vulnerable patients.

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