The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Scots public ‘generally supportive’ of Covid-19 passport programme
Scotland’s Covid passport scheme hit business and led to only a small increase in the number of people taking up the vaccine, a Scottish Government report has revealed.
The findings on the certification programme also showed around half (54%) of people had shown their certificate at an event where it was “required”.
Deputy First Minister John Swinney said the current passport scheme is “working well” and had been downloaded for use more than 1.5 million times.
The public are “generally supportive”, according to the findings of the report published by the Scottish Government yesterday.
The report states the scheme is the least restrictive of measures the government could introduce, compared to reintroducing capacity limits on venues, early closing times or closing events.
Around 65% of those asked do not believe the scheme should be rolled out to smaller events and businesses, even though they acknowledged it was designed “to help”.
Scotland, the report concludes, stands at a choice between closing venues and limiting contact – similar to lockdown – or use certification to “reduce the risk that an infectious person will be present in a higher risk setting”.
After being introduced on September 1 this year, the paper concludes there is “incomplete information” on the effect it has had on tackling the longer-term effects on the virus, on society and the economy.
Any decision to extend the scheme would not be implemented until December 6. As part of restrictions to mitigate the spread of the virus, certain venues and events require proof of double vaccination before entry is allowed.
Proof of vaccination is required to enter: Latenight venues open after midnight with alcohol and music and dancing; unseated indoor live events, with more than 500 people in the audience; unseated outdoor live events, with more than 4,000 people in the audience and any event, which has more than 10,000 in attendance.
The Scottish Government said no personal data is stored on the app itself. Information on what vaccine you have had is available to read on the app, as well as your name and date of birth.
Fewer than half of Scots polled (49%) think the certification scheme makes venues and events safer for them to visit, while 47% feel businesses and events will find it difficult to monitor who has the app.
Overall approval for the scheme sits at 59%, with around a quarter (24%) opposing it and 13% neither supporting nor opposing it.
Representatives for nightclubs and late-night businesses have reported a drop in footfall and revenue since the passport scheme was introduced, with some businesses reporting losses of almost 50%.
Business owners have expressed concerns about footfall and revenue over the Christmas period and worry an impact on festive party bookings could arise because of the scheme.
Scottish Conservative Covid recovery spokesman Murdo Fraser said: “John Swinney continues to insist the SNP’s vaccine certification scheme is ‘working well’, yet in almost 70 pages of their so-called ‘evidence’ document, the SNP have failed to provide concrete proof of the scheme’s effectiveness.
“In contrast, the devastating impact on businesses is all too clear.
“The SNP Government has admitted that nighttime venues have faced significant trade losses, rising costs and increased abuse of staff as a result of the existing scheme.
“Yet they are still considering extending the requirements to over 17,000 additional businesses.”
He continued: “The fact that this lukewarm report is the best the SNP could conjure up in support of this shambolic policy, should tell you all you need to know.”
Mr Swinney said: “With cases rising gradually and pressures on our NHS, our approach is to keep people safe and get through a challenging winter without having to re-introduce any restrictions.
“This paper provides an update of the evidence of the vaccine certification scheme and focuses on the potential impact of options for expanding it.”