Scotland to scrap vaccine passports
The First Minister has announced that the vaccine certification scheme in Scotland is coming to an end
Last updated 22nd Feb 2022
Scotland is set to scrap the vaccine passport.
In the latest update on the Scottish Government's strategy coming out of the pandemic, the First Minister announced the vaccine certification scheme will be coming to an end on Monday February 28th.
The app that supports the scheme will remain operational, however. This is so any business which wishes to continue the scheme on a voluntary basis can do so.
Nicola Sturgeon also said that as of March 21st, assuming no significant adverse developments arise, the legal requirement to wear face covering in indoor settings and on public transport will switch to guidance.
The Government will however continue to strongly advocate the wearing of masks.
The legal requirement on businesses and service providers to retain customer contact details is also expected to end on 21 March.
It follows on from the Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing he was getting rid of all legal Covid regulations in England.
The FM indicated "frustration" at the decisions made by the UK Government.
Today Nicola Sturgeon said there would be much less reliance on legal measures to combat the virus.
The Scottish Government continues to urge those who test positive for Covid-19 to self-isolate.
From Thursday in England, this will no longer be a legal requirement, as announced by the Prime Minister yesterday.
On testing the First Minister said:
"Testing has been - and will continue to be - a vital part of our management of Covid.
"However, as the nature of the threat and our approach to managing it evolves, so too will our testing approach.
"It is reasonable, over time and barring adverse developments, to move away from mass population-wide, asymptomatic testing, towards a more targeted system focused on specific priorities.
"These priorities will include surveillance, rapid detection of and response to new variants, effective outbreak management, particularly in high risk settings like care homes and hospitals - and ensuring access to care and treatment for those who need it.
"In March, when I hope we'll have more clarity from the UK government on available resources, we'll publish a detailed plan for Test & Protect, setting out our priorities in more detail and describing the scale of infrastructure that will remain in place for the longer term."
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