Covid 19 - Scotland Announce Requirement for Covid Passports

The Scottish executive have announced the requirement for Covid passports which will require people over the age of 18 to show proof of vaccination to gain entry to nightclubs and large-scale events.

The requirement comes into force on 1 October. When the proposal was mooted there was always a question on how nightclub would be defined.

The First Minister set out the definition of a nightclub for use within the scheme, being:

• a venue open between midnight and 5am,
• serving alcohol,
• having a designated area for dancing and providing live or recorded music for this purpose.

She said a “pragmatic approach” would be encouraged, “so that businesses can make sensible judgments.”.

The definition appears to capture a huge number of premise which the general public would not consider to be a nightclub and Mike Grieve, chair of NTIA Scotland, said: “Having disregarded input from NTIA Scotland in discussions since the vaccine passport policy was announced, and having forced a rush vote through Scottish parliament, the Scottish government have now confirmed that this deeply flawed and incoherent policy will come into effect from 1 October, focusing the negative attention on one small subsection of society, and all the economic damage on the sector already most affected by the pandemic."

It is understood that NITA representing Scottish nightclubs has launched a legal challenge