Passports ‘could get us through the winter without a lockdown’
Sturgeon defends scheme after criticism
NICOLA Sturgeon has said vaccine passports could help to get Scotland through the winter without the need for more Covid-19 restrictions.
A motion before Holyrood on Thursday passed in the first major vote since the SNP and Greens entered a co-operation agreement.
Opposition parties railed against the plans, with a paper being published just hours before the debate was due to take place, and a number of issues yet to be finalised.
Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, the First Minister said: “Vaccine certification is not a magic wand, more than any other restriction is a magic wand, but it may provide us with the ability to get through the winter, keep venues like nightclubs and big events operational rather than having to close them for periods again, while helping to keep people safer.
“We know that while vaccines don’t eradicate the risk of transmission, they do significantly reduce the chance of transmission.”
The First Minister went on to say Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Tory chief Douglas Ross were opposing the proposals “for opposition’s sake”.
She added: “Anas Sarwar announced on Sunday before anything really had gone through the parliamentary debate process that he was going to vote against it,” she said.
“Douglas Ross is in the
Opposition are in opposition mode for sake of it NICOLA STURGEON HITS AT TORIES & LABOUR
bizarre, and it’s for him to explain this, position where had he been voting at Westminster yesterday – because remember the UK Government have got plans to implement an almost identical scheme – he would have voted for it but because it’s an SNP Government in Scotland, he’s voting against it.
“Let’s just accept that the opposition are very much in an opposition for opposition’s sake mode.”
The First Minister went on to say that, while she did not agree with the Lib Dem position – which claims the Scottish Government is overreaching and bringing in “Covid ID cards” – she believes it to be a “principled opposition”.
Addressing issues with the lack of detail in the proposals, which included the definition of what constitutes a nightclub not yet being finalised, the First Minister said: “We have set out the outlines of this scheme.
“We are considering and engaging with the affected business sector on the fine detail of the scheme, so that’s actually the right and proper way to do government.
“This scheme will not come into force until October 1, to make sure that businesses have the detail and that there is not just overarching guidance in place, but there is a sectorspecific guidance.”
Meanwhile, Scotland recorded 22 new Covid deaths yesterday, while cases increased by 6815. There are 977 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus with 82 in intensive care.