Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Covid passports to be rolled out at nightclubs and live events in Scotland

The new scheme will require those entering nightclubs and attending certain live events to prove they have received two Covid jabs.
The new scheme will require those entering nightclubs and attending certain live events to prove they have received two Covid jabs.

MSPs have approved plans to introduce a Covid passport scheme from next month despite claims of an “astounding” lack of detail.

The new scheme will require those entering events including football grounds, music festivals and nightclubs to prove they have received two Covid jabs from October 1.

The Scottish Government revealed the “broad outline” of the mandatory scheme on Thursday, just hours before MSPs approved the scheme 68 votes to 55.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney told MSPs the Scottish Government is “trying to take proportionate action to protect the public from coronavirus”.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Deputy First Minister John Swinney arrive at the debating chamber of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.

He pointed to France, Italy and Ireland, as examples of countries who have already moved forward with introducing Covid passports.

‘Lack of detail’

However, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross accused the Scottish Government’s proposals of lacking detail, including on what constitutes a nightclub.

He criticised the government for only publishing a paper on the proposals “hours” before the debate and confirmed his party could not support the scheme.

His Conservative colleague, north-east MSP Douglas Lumsden, revealed Aberdeen Football Club estimates the scheme could cost £1.5 million in lost income.

Their opposition comes despite the Boris Johnson confirming his government intends to press ahead with their own plans to introduce Covid vaccine passports for nightclubs from the end of September.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been heavily criticised for Afghanistan reaction.

Mr Ross said: “The SNP’s plan is riddled with holes. The flaws are considerable and the lack of detail is astounding.

“The SNP Government has failed to bring opposition parties or the public onboard with these plans.

“At the last minute, all we got was a subpar pamphlet that can be summed up in three words – ask again later.”

Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin told Mr Ross that councils – including Moray and Aberdeenshire – have a working definition of a nightclub for licensing purposes.

This saw the SNP MSP bring the definition up on her phone which she read out in the debating chamber, to criticism from north-east MSP Michael Marra.

However, Mr Swinney did admit “discussions” were underway with the nightclub sector to agree the definition of a nightclub.

‘Not the silver bullet’

Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said more action must be taken to tackle rising cases across the country but “vaccine passports are not the silver bullet”.

Opposed to the scheme, Ms Baillie said the government should instead focus on boosting uptake of vaccinations, taking more action on ventilation systems in schools and businesses and improving the under-pressure test and protect service.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats also voted down the proposals, with leader Alex Cole-Hamilton claiming the government have “failed to provide any substantive details”.

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton

He said the scheme could also result in individuals feeling a “false sense of security” when attending these high risker risk venues.

The scheme will make a QR code available through a smart phone app, which will be scanned before entry is allowed to nightclubs or similar venues, adult entertainment, unseated indoor events with more than 500 people, outdoor unseated events with more than 4,000 people or any event with more than 10,000 in attendance.

Covid vaccine passports in Scotland explained.

Initially, the scheme will not permit a negative test result to be offered as an alternative to evidence of vaccination.

However, the Scottish Government has confirmed this will be “kept under review”.

The deputy first minister also confirmed the regulations will be reviewed every three weeks.