Scottish Conservative leader argues there is no evidence vaccine passports work

On Tuesday, the Scottish government will decide if the “vaccine passport” scheme that came into effect in Scotland last month will be extended to include other settings.

Commenting on the potential extension, Scottish Conservative party leader Douglas Ross told BBC Scotland that he is yet to see evidence that vaccine passports do anything to stop the spread of Covid-19.

“Where is the evidence that these vaccine passports actually work?”, he said, adding: “Their [the SNP’s] own 70-page document can’t tell us”.

“We know from many studies already that businesses are strongly opposed to any extension, and we’ve had no idea apart from the first minister and deputy first minister saying some other hospitality venues may be affected, which ones?”, Ross said. 

Covid case numbers have been slowly climbing again in recent weeks in Scotland.

Currently, those attending nightclubs and other large events have to show they have been double vaccinated. Nicola Sturgeon says the scheme could be widened to include theatres, cinemas and other hospitality venues.