Scotland to roll out vaccine passports on October 1st

  • Published
    Fri, Sep 10, 2021, 10:10
  • Words
    Sean Beeby
  • Share
  • Proof of full vaccination will be required for clubs and large events.
  • Scotland to roll out vaccine passports on October 1st image
  • Scottish parliament has approved plans for the introduction of vaccine passports. Following recent proposals, proof of full vaccination will be required for nightclubs and large events from October 1st, the BBC reports. Similar plans are set to be introduced in England at the end of September, with no plans in place for comparable schemes in Wales or Northern Ireland at present. The move comes after Scotland recorded the highest number of daily cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic. It's seen by parliament as an effective route to prevent further transmission of the virus and to avoid the re-closure of venues in the hospitality sector. The ruling applies to nightclubs and adult entertainment venues, unseated indoor events of 500-plus capacity and unseated outdoor events of 4,000 or more. However, a paper published by the Scottish government hours before the vote said that officials are still trying to define how a venue can be classified as a nightclub, and that evidence of the effectiveness of these schemes elsewhere is still being gathered. "The vote on Covid-19 passports in the Scottish parliament today has put an already fragile night time economy on a dangerous path to devastation," said Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA). "The call for evidence from the Scottish government has been ignored, and has left us no option but to challenge this." "I fear vaccine passports will create even more division and further alienate certain people, while not actually tackling infection (or vaccination uptake) rates," Glasgow-based DJ and promoter Nightwave told Resident Advisor last week when the proposals were first announced. "We should be focussing on personal responsibility—regular testing before events and isolating when required." Photo: Antoine Julien
RA