Eng "Vaccine Passport Abolished, No Additional Lockdowns"...Countries Begin Expanding 'With Corona' Measures (Comprehensive)

Denmark, Singapore, Japan, Australia Join With-Corona Movement
Opposition Voices as Israel Reports Over 20 Deaths Per Day

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyunwoo Lee, Hyunui Cho] The UK government has announced that it will abolish the vaccine passport system, which was introduced to curb the spread of COVID-19, and declared that it will fully implement the so-called 'With Covid19' strategy, which aims to roll back quarantine measures to pre-pandemic levels. Not only the UK, but major countries such as Denmark, Singapore, Japan, and Australia are also reportedly planning to join the With Covid19 strategy lineup one after another. However, concerns have been raised as Israel, which was the first to enter the With Covid19 phase, has seen more than 900 additional deaths in just two months.

On the 12th (local time), Sajid Javid, UK Health Secretary, said in an interview with BBC, "We have decided not to implement vaccine passports anymore," adding, "This is not due to strong opposition but because the vaccination rate in the UK is high." Previously, the UK government had announced quarantine guidelines requiring vaccine passports to enter clubs or large event venues, but now it has announced that all of these will be withdrawn.

Secretary Javid said, "There will be no more additional lockdowns," and "We want to remove the PCR tests required for entry and exit to the UK as soon as possible." The UK government also announced in a statement on the same day that it plans to abolish all lockdown measures such as closures of restaurants and pubs and school attendance bans. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled to fully announce this With Covid19 strategy on the 14th.

The UK's shift to the With Covid19 strategy is based on a high vaccination rate that is expected to achieve herd immunity. In the UK, 80% of vaccination-eligible individuals aged 16 and over have completed two doses of the vaccine. This corresponds to 63.4% of the total population. The UK plans to shift management of uninfected and asymptomatic confirmed cases to booster shot recommendations and focus on severe patients and hospital bed management.

Denmark and Singapore Fully Implement With Covid19... Japan and Australia Also Plan Transition

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Denmark, which has already completed vaccination for 80% of its population aged 12 and over (73.8% of the total population), officially declared its With Covid19 strategy earlier than the UK. Denmark completely lifted quarantine measures starting from the 10th.

Singapore, where over 81% of the total population has completed vaccination, announced it will shift to a With Covid19 strategy through phased easing measures. Singapore had previously declared a full lifting of quarantine measures at the end of last month but slowed down the pace of the With Covid19 strategy this month due to a rapid increase in confirmed cases, preparing for a possible surge in severe patients.

The Japanese government has also set a policy to shift to the With Covid19 strategy as the vaccination completion rate exceeded 50%. According to the Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) newspaper, the number of people who completed vaccination in Japan has surpassed 50% of the total population. Accordingly, the Japanese government plans to fully ease quarantine measures after completing vaccinations by November, Nikkei reported. Australia, with a vaccination rate of only 36% of the total population, plans to implement the With Covid19 strategy by maximizing the vaccination speed.

Over 900 Deaths in Israel Since End of July Lifting of Quarantine... Criticism of Premature Timing

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

However, there are considerable voices opposing this move as premature. Israel, which completely lifted lockdown measures at the end of July, is seeing a resurgence with daily confirmed cases exceeding 10,000 and daily severe deaths reaching the 20s. Since the end of July until now, 914 people have died from COVID-19 in Israel, averaging more than 20 deaths per day.

The Israeli government is reportedly planning booster shots and even a fourth dose in preparation for the decline in vaccine efficacy after more than six months. According to Bloomberg News on the same day, Nachman Ash, Director-General of the Israeli Ministry of Health, said at a press conference, "We are securing vaccine supplies for the fourth COVID-19 dose," hinting at the possibility of a fourth dose starting next year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.