Covid passes 'will have devastating impact' on night-time economy in North West

Video report by ITV Granada Reports' correspondent Rob Smith.

There is fear and confusion among nightclub and bar owners in the North West, after MPs backed the government's plans to introduce controversial vaccine passes.

People will have to show evidence of having had their coronavirus jabs or provide evidence of a negative lateral flow test before entering.

Boris Johnson had to rely on Labour votes to get his proposals - to show proof of Covid vaccination or a negative lateral flow test - approved, with 96 Conservative MPs voting against the plans.

The government won the contentious vote on Covid passports amid opposition from dozens of Tory backbenchers, with a majority of 369 to 126.

Kirsty Clarke, operations director for Baa Bar Limited, in Liverpool, says Covid passports will be 'devastating' for the hospitality industry, particularly nightclubs and bars.

She says club owners have been presented with too many pages of government guidance at too short notice.

She said: "The restrictions aren't very clear. No one actually knows 100% what the rules are, when you get a 24-page legal document and we're supposed to go live tomorrow.

"It's pretty disruptive and two weeks before Christmas the impact on trade is inevitably going to be hard hit."

With PCR tests unavailable to book on the NHS and its lateral flow tests effectively out-of-stock, some in the night-time economy worry how some customers - and staff - will prove their status.

Among those opposing the plans for vaccine passes is Greater Manchester's nighttime economy advisor Sacha Lord.

He is urging the Chancellor of Exchequer Rishi Sunak to 'come forward' as he fears businesses will have to make 'huge redundancies' in January.

Mr Johnson has insisted the measures represent a “balanced and proportionate” response to the emergence of the Omicron variant

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said there is an estimated 200,000 infections a day, with the new strain accounting for 20% of cases in England. He has stressed the new rules are not vaccine passports.

Health bosses anticipate that the new variant, said to spread quicker than others, will become the dominant form of the virus in Greater Manchester "within days."

They are urging as many people as possible to take up the booster, which the NHS aim to offer to every single person in the North West by the end of December.

Soldiers have been drafted in to help with the vaccine rollout as the demand for the booster jab increases.

Army drafted in to help with vaccine boosters in St Helens as doctors warn they cannot cope. Credit: ITV News

Listen to the ITV News' coronavirus podcast.