Nadhim Zahawi has faced calls to be sacked in the last 24 hours, as the Under-Secretary of State for the deployment of the Covid-19 vaccine was found to have gone back on his word regarding the rollout of vaccine passports.

Back in January 2021 Zahawi had responded to a tweet by the Telegraph discussing vaccine passports being trialled by thousands of Britons.

The 54-year-old responded to that story by saying it wouldn’t be happening.

He said: “We have no plans to introduce vaccine passports. We have vaccinated, as of yesterday, 2,431,648 first dose and 412,167 second dose.

“No one has been given or will be required to have a vaccine passport”.

However, the vaccines minister had changed his mind when he appeared on the Andrew Marr Show yesterday, stating that vaccine passports would be required in nightclubs and other indoor venues at the end of September.

"The best way we can keep those industries open in my view, in our view, is to work with the industry," he said.

"One thing that we have learnt is that in large gatherings of people, especially indoors, the virus tends to spike and spread."

He was also in agreement of opening up the vaccine for 12-15 year-olds if the UK’s chief medical officers recommended it.

Calls for the sacking of the Vaccine Minister

The topic of vaccine passports has been a controversial one, with many people arguing it is an unnecessary infringement on people’s civil liberties.

The hashtag #SackZahawi has been trending over the last day as people reacted to the news that vaccine passports would become a reality.

Many dug up his tweet from January to say he was lying.

Calvin Robinson, a broadcaster for GB News, said: “If politicians still had principles, it wouldn’t be necessary to #SackZahawi. A good man would resign, it’s the honourable thing to do.”

TV presenter Gillian McKeith was also unimpressed in the change of opinion.

She said: “Every time his mouth moves ....you just know that a big whopper of a fib is coming out. #SackZahawi”.

Quite a few people were also concerned about the topic of younger children getting the vaccine.

Twitter user Nick the Greek said: “We've been lied to all the way through the pandemic but imposing vaccine passports and taking away parental consent is the last straw. Protect your children, your families and communities and #SackZahawi.”

 Zahawi's current stance comes as 'firebreak lockdown' considered for October

Covid cases, hospital admissions and deaths are still on the rise, and the aim is for the government to try and make sure the NHS is not overwhelmed.

Vaccine passports to crowded indoor venues like nightclubs is a method of trying to keep the spread of the virus to a minimum.

This is especially pertinent considering the topic of conversation floating around the potential of a 'firebreak lockdown' in October.

This would be a contingency plan if the number of cases got too high.