People face £10k fines for faking vaccine passports or a negative Covid test

People who fake their vaccine status or a negative Covid test could face fines as high as £10k under strict new laws in England. 

The laws on Covid passes, which were voted in by MPs yesterday, Tuesday 14th December, require people to show proof of two vaccine doses or a recent negative lateral flow test to gain entry to nightclubs and large events.

Over venues include dance halls, discos, some live music venues, theatres, concert halls or other public buildings, exhibition and conference centres and sports stadiums.

@anniespratt / Unsplash

However, in a bid to prevent people from faking their vaccine status or their test result, new twenty-four page-long legislation will make it a criminal offence to make, adapt, supply or offer to supply ‘false evidence of Covid status to another person’ which is known to be ‘false or misleading’.

If caught doing any of the above, people will be issued a fixed penalty notice for breaching the rules at a cost of £10,000 for a first offence.

New Covid laws could also see businesses be shut down by councils if they fail to comply with with the rules or if they are not carrying out suitable checks on customers attending events.

Any businesses in breach of these rules or found ignoring improvement or closure notices issued by councils could be fined £1,000, reduced to £500 if paid within the first fourteen days.