Vaccine passport scheme could be extended amid fear of Covid rise
The Deputy First Minister says a number of measures are being considered to try and keep cases down over winter
Scotland's COVID-19 vaccine passport scheme could be extended, as the Scottish Government considers introducing further measures to slow the spread of the virus over winter.
Updating MSPs on Tuesday, Deputy First Minister John Swinney warned that Scotland was still in a "precarious and unpredictable" situation with regards to coronavirus.
He said that with approximately 2,500 new cases of the disease being reported each day, coronavirus was still at a "concerningly high level".
And he warned: "If the previous pattern, characterised by waves of infection, is repeated, there is a risk that the spread of the virus could, very quickly, increase again during the coming weeks, perhaps over the Christmas period."
NHS under 'intense pressure'
With the NHS already under "intense pressure", Mr Swinney said that "some scenarios for what may happen next are very concerning", telling MSPs there was a "need to avoid the most dangerous of those scenarios".
He stressed that the Scottish Government wanted to avoid having to reimpose "the sort of strict lockdowns we had seen before most of us were vaccinated".
But he insisted: "We do need to take appropriate measures to keep the pandemic under control.
"It is because we want to avoid more difficult restrictions that we cannot rule out strengthening the baseline protective measures currently in place as the best way to head off any prospect of future lockdowns."
Where else might we need to use a vaccine passport?
The Covid restrictions in place in Scotland will be reviewed again next week, Mr Swinney said.
But giving an update to MSPs ahead of that, he added: "We have been considering, for example, whether we may need to extend the Covid certification scheme to bring more settings into scope, such as further indoor hospitality and leisure settings."
The coronavirus certification scheme requires people going to nightclubs and to other large-scale events - such as concerts and some football matches - to be able to prove they have received two doses of vaccine.
Could other coronavirus measures return?
Other possible measures could see work being required to improve ventilation, steps to increase home working and "whether changes are needed to extend use of face coverings".
He said, however, that no decisions had been made yet, and added that the Government would be "discussing options with business sector organisations this week".
Mr Swinney was giving the regular coronavirus update to MSPs in place of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who was at the Cop26 climate change summit in Glasgow.
He told the Parliament that there were "some specific reasons to suspect that case numbers may increase in the weeks ahead".
The Deputy First Minister said: "With the onset of colder winter weather, increased time spent indoors means there will likely be more opportunities for Covid to circulate.
"Cop26 has seen people from all over the world meeting in Glasgow - and that presents a known infection risk.”