The Scottish Parliament voted on Thursday to introduce Covid-19 vaccination certificates for access to nightclubs and certain events, with the nation becoming the first in the UK to adopt such a measure.
Read also Health pass and travel: everything you need to know
The measure, which will come into effect on October 1, aims to curb the rise in Covid-19 cases attributed to back to school and avoid the reintroduction of restrictions linked to the pandemic, Scottish Health Minister Humza Yousaf said, before the vote in Edinburgh.
“
We don't want to reimpose any of the restrictions that have been in place for much of this year because we all know how damaging they have been to business, education and the well-being of people.
But we must stem the increase in cases,
”he pleaded.
Encourage vaccination of young people
Coronavirus vaccination certificates will be required to enter nightclubs, music festivals and to attend certain football matches.
A smartphone application will allow digital monitoring of vaccination status.
According to the Minister of Health, the introduction of the vaccination passport will encourage young people to be vaccinated against the virus.
"
We want to make sure that as many people as possible get vaccinated and in particular to increase the vaccination rate among younger people, so anything that helps to push (for vaccination) is useful,
" he said. declared.
Boris Johnson's government has said it is considering such a move to enter nightclubs and stadiums in England but no concrete announcement has yet been made.
The number of cases multiplied by five in four weeks
Each constituent nation of the UK has jurisdiction over anti-Covid restrictions.
Like England, Scotland lifted most of the restrictions in place this summer, after a long winter lockdown, building on the success of the British vaccination campaign.
But the trend is "
extremely worrying
", warned the pro-independence Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon eight days ago, with the number of cases multiplied by five in four weeks and a positivity rate increased from 5% to 11.5%.
Read also United Kingdom: Johnson announces that vaccination will soon be required at the entrance of nightclubs
The United Kingdom as a whole deplores nearly 134,000 deaths from Covid-19 in total, the number of cases exceeding 30,000 per day but the number of hospitalizations (7,700 patients in all) and deaths (around 100 per day) remains much lower than in previous waves.