£600,000 for digital vaccine certificates

A Danish company is developing digital Covid vaccination certificates for Scots.

The Scottish Government has awarded a £600,000 contract for the scheme to IT firm Netcompany.

Certificates are currently only available in paper form after security flaws were spotted with downloadable version.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on July 20 that a digital solution would be up and running “over the coming weeks”.

The Covid vaccination status certificate shows the dates and types of jabs given to an individual.

The certificates are used by people travelling overseas who require a record of vaccination status.

There has been speculation that a digital vaccine passport, which the government previously indicated would also include a person’s proof of recovery or recent negative test, may be needed to gain entry to sporting or music events.

The Scottish Government said: “More details on timescales and scope will be set out in the coming weeks.

“The current priority is to include vaccination data to be used for international travel.”

Meanwhile, Scotland has recorded another nine coronavirus deaths and 1,018 new cases in the past 24 hours, the latest Scottish Government figures show.

The daily test positivity rate is 4.9%, under the 5% target set by the World Health Organisation.

A total of 445 people were in hospital on Friday, down 29 on the previous day, with 64 patients in intensive care, a rise of four.

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde recorded the most cases in the past 24 hours, with

236, followed by Lothian with 192 and Lanarkshire with 174.

So far, 4,009,611 people have received their first jag and 3,180,160 their second dose.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon will tell parliament on Tuesday whether the country will move beyond Level 0 restrictions on August 9.