Vaccine passport app not ready yet
Firm calls on NHS to ‘make up its mind’
THE firm building Scotland’s Covid passport app has not had final instructions – with just weeks to go before its planned launch.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last week announced plans to force people to prove their vaccination status for entry to nightclubs and some events.
If MSPs back the plan it will be introduced later this month.
People have been able to download a QR code showing their vaccination status since Friday but it has not been revealed how the system works or who will be checking the passports.
The Scottish Government has awarded a £600,000 contract to Netcompany to develop the system. It is possible this would be similar to the Danish firm’s existing mobile phone app, which confirms your vaccination status. It also requires a passport photo, unique medical ID and pin code.
The FM said the system will be in place later this month but Netcompany said the NHS has still to give them final specifications.
It added it was “not able to say it will be a solution similar to what we have in Denmark. Those decisions and the scope of the solution is something NHS Scotland has to make up its mind on”.
Scots Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, whose party is against the use of jab certificates, said: “The fact normal practice could be to include your photo seems they may be more like the medical ID cards we fear them to be.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he had “concerns” on how they would be implemented.
The Scottish Government said full details about the app would be set out “in due course”.