An Edinburgh-based leading Scottish Government advisor has said Nicola Sturgeon should have extended the vaccine passport scheme.
The Daily Record reports that the chair of global public health at Edinburgh University, Devi Sridhar, believes it might have been “better to go further with certification now.”
The First Minister decided yesterday that she would not be making Scots prove their vaccination status as a condition of being allowed in to pubs, restaurants and cinemas.
Ms Sturgeon had said last week that she was considering more restrictions, and more venues could be added to the passport scheme but stepped back for the time being when she updated parliament yesterday.
The SNP leader said “this was a very finely balanced decision” and added that Scotland’s position was “precarious” but stabilising with the average number of new cases recorded each day falling by about three per cent over the past week.
READ MORE: Edinburgh council rejects new flats block amid schoolchildren road safety fears
Responding to Sturgeon, Sridhar wrote on Twitter: “I personally think it would be better to go further with certification now. We’ve learnt that waiting and watching just makes the problem worse. And we’re heading into Dec-Feb, hardest months for the NHS.”
Neil Mabbott, a professor of immunopathology at the University of Edinburgh, insisted cases in Scotland were insufficient to trigger an extension of the passport scheme.
He told The Times: “There’s a bit of breathing space at this stage.
“If we start to see a significant uptick in cases then there will be strong suggestions that we need to move towards widening the vaccine passport scheme rapidly so we can avoid a significant increase over the Christmas period.
“As you can imagine, there will be a lot more indoor mixing, family gatherings, etcetera. You would expect higher rates of transmission as we saw last year.”
The decision not to extend the vaccine passport scheme was warmly welcomed by Scottish businesses.
Andrew McRae of the Federation of Small Businesses said: “It’s a relief that ministers have taken on board the evidence from the FSB and others. Extending the vaccine passport scheme would have meant many local and independent Scottish hospitality and leisure firms making big changes to how they operate during a key trading period.
“These businesses will now have a weight off their shoulders.
“Feedback from our members showed that small cafés, restaurants and similar operators were worried that the extension would have put pressure on staff and driven up costs.
“It would have undermined many of these firms’ plans for the festive period, many of whom are amongst the businesses hardest hit by this crisis.”
