Scotland residents will require COVID-19 vaccine passports for entry to large events and nightclubs, with plans including indoor and outdoor venues.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the plans yesterday (Wednesday) with Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) to vote on the plans next week.
Vaccination certificates will be “required to enter certain events and higher risk venues, such as nightclubs, music festivals and some football grounds, if Parliament backs the move in a vote planned for next week” the Government said.
However, the Scottish Government said that it was unlikely that the vaccine passport would be used to access other areas of the hospitality industry like restaurants. It will be reviewed during the autumn and winter months.
The vaccine certificates will be needed for nightclubs and adult entertainment venues, unseated indoor live events with more than 500 people in the audience, unseated outdoor live events with more than 4,000 people in the audience and any event, of any nature, which has more than 10,000 people in attendance.
Sturgeon said: “We do not want to reimpose any of the restrictions that have been in place for much of this year as we all know how much harm they have caused to businesses, to education and to people’s general wellbeing but we must stem the rise in cases.
“In addition to measures such as free testing and the installation of CO2 monitors in schools, we believe that a limited use of vaccine certification in certain higher risk settings, could help us to keep businesses open and prevent any further restrictions as we head into autumn and winter.”
From tomorrow (Friday) Scottish residents will be able to download a PDF copy of their vaccination certificate, with a personalised QR code to store on their mobile phones or print off. This can be used to prove vaccination status domestically and internationally.
This is also in addition to the existing paper letters that can be requested from NHS Inform and the COVID Helpline.
The First Minister added: “Ensuring that as many people as possible get vaccinated remains a key priority and the Scottish Government will continue to do everything we can to improve on the already high up-take of the vaccine.
“We continue to urge anyone aged 16 and over to get vaccinated, please find your local drop-in clinic by visiting NHS Inform.”
Image: Colin Lloyd on Unsplash
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