Scots should not book summer holidays this year because the coronavirus situation globally and nationally is so uncertain, Jason Leitch has said.
Scotland’s national clinical director went public with advice he has already given civil servant colleagues not to count on holidays abroad until next year.
Leitch, the senior clinical adviser to the Scottish Government, was speaking after Boris Johnson had expressed optimism about summer breaks but Nicola Sturgeon had urged people to be cautious.
He said: “I’m not sure who is right to be absolutely honest. The fact is I told the civil service not to book non refundable summer holidays, I am certainly not booking a summer holiday.”
He added: “I don’t know two things. I don’t know where we will be. Then, and I don’t know where the world will be then.
“Every country in the world is behind us in vaccination, apart from Israel and the United Arab Emirates, significantly behind.
“The difficulty is wherever you go. You’re going to want protection not just from vaccination but also from low prevalence from testing from whatever else. So I am, I’m reluctant to tell people to invest in summer holidays.”
Earlier this year a leaked video showed Scotland’s top covid adviser warning foreign summer holidays may be off the agenda until next year.
Leitch discouraged Scottish Government staff from booking during the traditional summer season in 2021.
In the video he added that even after next Christmas, he is not sure what the world will look like “in terms of free movement”.
He told colleagues: “I might book a holiday in the autumn or Christmas time but even then I’m not entirely sure what the world will look like in terms of freedom of movement.”
