Brewdog founder suggests closed bars could be Covid vaccine hubs
James Watt tweeted the First Minister and UK Health Secretary with the idea
A Scottish craft beer company is offering its closed bars to be used as coronavirus vaccine hubs.
Brewdog co-founder tweeted the First Minister and UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock to suggest the venues could be used to help roll out the vaccine quickly.
The Aberdeenshire-based brewer has dozens of bars across the country, including throughout Scotland and in central London.
Nicola Sturgeon replied: “Thank you. I'll pass this on to our vaccination team.”
Managing Director of Brewdog’s bars James Brown told Tay FM News the idea was born out of frustration: “Around Scotland, around the UK, and around the world pubs, clubs and hospitality venues are closed. They’re hubs of their communities, and so many pubs and restaurants have invested in being Covid safe. They’re just sat there not being used and we think that’s a crying shame.
“We have large, high-tech cooling facilities for our food and beer. We have comfy seats for people to wait on.”
He added that it would be a huge boost for the sector to play a part in bringing the pandemic to an end: “Imagine a world where hospitality went from supposedly being part of the problem to being part of the solution!”
Bars are currently closed in all of mainland Scotland due to coronavirus restrictions.
Earlier in the pandemic, BrewDog launched a beer in response to the Dominic Cummings controversy - called “Barnard Castle Eye Test” after a fan vote - with profits going towards making hand sanitiser for the NHS.