Ahead of the First Ministers announcement due today on the potential extension of the Covid Certification Scheme and other possible restrictions, NTIA Scotland is urging the First Minister to protect jobs and businesses and hold off on any expansion of covid certification.
In a statement, NTIA Scotland said, “Any expansion of the vaccine passport scheme will cause significant harm to both businesses and their employees. The evidence on this point is clear, with significant reductions in trade already being experienced in affected Scottish businesses, and similar results being reported in Wales, France, Canada, New York City, and more.
“The Scottish Government ‘Evidence Paper’ published on Friday 19th November, despite its significant length, does not demonstrate that the existing scheme has been successful in either of its’ stated policy objectives, namely, A) to increase the uptake of vaccination amongst the relevant demographic or B) to reduce transmission risk and consequent health harms within the affected settings.
“Survey data gathered by the 5 hospitality trade bodies in Scotland shows there is already significant damage being done to the sector in Scotland, and a further rollout to include more hospitality settings, particularly during the festive season, will clearly exacerbate the economic damage to businesses.
“We would urge the First Minister to await further data and recognise that with Covid case and