Fears quarantine regime will not be ready in time
●Airports and hotels ‘in the dark’ over restrictions due to start next week
The Scottish Government is facing calls for urgent action to ensure a tough new quarantine regime is ready in time amid claims many operators are still in the dark.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman would not say whether any hotel rooms have yet been booked for the new system, which will see people entering scotland forced to quarantine in approved hotels for ten days.
Operators of the country's biggest airports also say that they do not know how the plans, which come into force in a week, will work.
Ms freeman would only say that" discussions are underway" with hotels and airports while the Scottish Government was still seeking to persuade UK ministers to take a tougher stance on quarantining international arrivals.
But Labour said a more urgent approach is now needed, with the new system set to come into force on february 15. Labour transport spokesman
Colin Smyth said: “The Scottish Government’s refusal to work with airports to introduce passenger testing and the current quarantine policy – where few people who should be quarantining are even checked – has been one of biggest weaknesses of the Covid response and no doubt contributed to bringing cases into the country.
“To now only talk about managed quarantine when the number of people travelling internationally has plummeted and not bother to consult airports or operators on how it will work is a classic case of the SNP’S rhetoric being tougher than their action.
“Both the UK and Scottish Governments got it wrong on international travel but instead of trying to cover up their failures, we need them to start working together on how best to tighten the rules, introduce passenger testing at airports and begin plans for along term term recovery for aviation when we start to move out of the pandemic.”
Deputy First Minister John Swinney is to make a statement at Holyrood this week on the plan. But it has emerged that operators of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports have not yet been told how the restrictions will work.
The Scottish Government is continuing to talk to UK ministers “about trying to get them to agree that we should all be much tougher”, Ms Freeman told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show.
When asked directly whet he rt the Scottish Government had booked hotel rooms for those needing to quarantine, ms freeman would only say that“that work is under way”.
She added: “Those discussions will continue with hotels and with airport sand soon, and my colleague( transport secretary) Michael Matheson will be taking that forward.”
Asked again whether any hotel rooms had been booked, she said again that "discussions are under way".
The Health Secretary added: "We will want to quarantine everyonewho is coming in internationally.
"If they are coming to scotland from whatever country they are coming in from, we will want them to go into quarantine for that set period."
Boris Johnson said on January27 that quarantine would be mandatory for anyone entering the UK from 33 so-called “red list” countries where mutant virus strains have been detected.
However, Ms Sturgeon said that Scotland's rules would apply to "anyone who arrives directly into Scotland" and that Uk rules did" not go far enough ".
Meanwhile, Ms Freeman said all Scots could be vaccinated against coronavirus "in the summer".
However, she refused to say what that could mean in terms of restrictions being lifted – simply reiterating the Scottish Government priority for ea sing measures would be focused on getting youngsters back into school.
Asked when it might be possible for people to go to pubs or non-essential shops could reopen, Ms Freeman said: "I can't give you that."
She told BBC Scotland' s Sundayshow :" education has to be a priority, our children and young people have suffered a great deal in terms of their education and that is about their future.
"Then we will look and see what more can be done.
"We need to learn of course from our previous experiences, and that is every time you ease the restrictions – and of course that is what we all want–you see a rise in case numbers. So you have to have them as low as you can possibly go."
But the Health Secretary stressed that "as fast as we get supplies we will be vaccinating" as she insisted the current programme was "exceeding" expectations.
Ms Freeman also stressed achieving targets was dependent on Scotland getting sufficient supplies of vaccines.
"There is a scenario where absolutely we move really fast, as long as supplies keep coming," she said.
"Our ambition is to get through all those 4.5 million adults aged 18 and over in the summer."
However, she said "at this point it is not very sensible to give specific dates because there are a number of unknowns".
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is expected to issue guidance in the coming weeks on how best to proceed with vaccinating the under-50s.
Ms freeman also said the timing of when vaccines could be given to younger adults was "partly about supplies".
But she stated: "What is the case is that our infrastructure is there, we have the vaccinators, we have the support staff, we have the local and regional centres.
"So we just keep going, as fast as we get supplies we will be vaccinating ."
The Health Secretary insisted that Scotland was "absolutely on track" to have all those aged over 70, and all adults classed as being clinically extremely vulnerable, vaccinated by the middle of February.
She stated :" with the numbers being vaccinated every day, we are certainly on track to do that, supplies permitting of course."
The intention is then for work to begin on vaccinating those aged 50 and above, with ministershoping this can be achieved by the beginning of May.
Ms Freeman added that the JCVI advice on how best to vaccinate the under-50s should be available "fairly soon".
Meanwhile, the number of Scots given their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine reached almost 840,000 yesterday–with the number of initial jabs given in one day passing 50,000 for the first time.
New figures released by the Scottish Government showed that 839,266 people have now had their first jab.