Chamber and committees

I have a duty as First Minister to continue to lead the country through the on-going Covid crisis, and I will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow on the latest Covid situation and the steps that we need to continue to take collectively to tackle the increase in transmission.

As we come out of the acute crisis and recover our economy, our society and our whole way of life, we have big choices to make about the kind of country that we are recovering to. We are not alone in that regard; countries across the world are asking themselves those questions. I believe that the answers to those questions should be shaped and decided in Scotland by our democratically elected Government and Parliament, and not imposed on us by a Westminster Government that, as we see so powerfully with Brexit, is intent on taking us in a direction that the majority do not want to go in.

The question is not whether we, in the Parliament, all agree on the question of independence. It is clear that we do not, and that is perfectly legitimate in a democracy. The question is whether we are all prepared to agree on the basic principle of democracy that election mandates should be honoured and questions about the future of our country should be taken not by politicians but by the people of our country. The arithmetic in the Parliament is clear: there is a mandate for an independence referendum. That should be honoured, and I am determined that it will be honoured and that the people of Scotland will decide the future of this country.

I have to say that it is a bit rich for the leader of a parliamentary group—I congratulate Alex Cole-Hamilton on his election as leader—that no longer qualifies as a parliamentary group because it lost ground in the election to criticise a party that increased its presence in the Parliament and is intent on trying to achieve change for the people whom it represents. Over all the years in which I have been in government, the Greens have, through co-operation and constructive opposition, achieved more than the Liberal Democrats have, and they will achieve even more in government.

The agreement has many positive elements for local government and democracy, such as work to increase voter registration and participation, particularly among underrepresented groups, and the commitment to undertake an independent review of the Scottish welfare fund, which is important to many families and individuals across the country.

The shared programme contains a variety of policies on which we will work collaboratively with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, such as commitments on community wealth building, planning, active travel, work on education reform and the establishment of a national care service. All those policies will have an impact on local authorities, so engagement and joint work on them will be important.

We will seek a strategic discussion with COSLA’s leadership on the agreement and the upcoming programme for government. We work collaboratively with COSLA, and the agreement will enhance the measures whereby we help local authorities to deliver their services for people across the country.

Veterans issues are always extremely important to the Government. Given the impact of Covid on many veterans in particular, we recognise the responsibility to take forward those recommendations as fully and quickly as possible. I cannot outline the conclusion of that today, but I know that those matters are under active consideration by the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans, Keith Brown, who is, of course, a veteran himself. I will ask him to write to the member with an update as quickly as he is able to do so, having given the issues the proper consideration that they merit.

Vaccine uptake is high in every part of Scotland. I said earlier that I think that our coverage of the population for first and second doses is higher than England’s. There are regional variations, just as there are variations between age groups. Every health board, including NHS Grampian, is working hard—here and now, probably even as we speak—to try to get vaccines to the remainder of the people in eligible groups who have not yet come forward. No stone will be left unturned in doing that.

Let us remember that vaccine uptake is high. I have said this before but it is worth repeating: if, at the start of this year, as we embarked on the programme, my advisers had told me that we would reach the percentage uptake that we have reached, even in younger age groups, I would have struggled to believe that that was possible. The programme is an outstanding success; the job now is to make sure that we do not let up until we have got the vaccine to everybody who is eligible—or as close to that as is possible.

Presiding Officer, I will try to be briefer in my answers, but I want to do justice to these really important questions and I know that there will be people who are listening to the answers. I am happy to stand here for as long as necessary to get through all the questions. You are in charge of the timing, but I wanted to make it clear that I am happy to do that.

The member raised an important issue, which is of concern to people with suppressed immune systems. Currently, the guidance from the chief medical officer is to focus on using antibody tests to improve our understanding of Covid and in the clinical management of patients, where that is appropriate. However, clinicians, including general practitioners, have discretion to request an antibody test for an individual if they think that the result would be of benefit to the patient’s clinical management.

We know that the vaccine offers significant protection against the virus, but we do not yet have evidence of exactly how effective it is for people with an impaired immune system. Therefore, constituents who are in that position should continue to be cautious about keeping themselves safe and should take sensible precautions, such as wearing a face covering.

Research is on-going to further our understanding of the immune response to Covid vaccinations in immunosuppressed patients. As we understand more about that, the advice and guidance that we give will be updated.

Again, that is a very important issue, so I am grateful for the opportunity to reiterate our advice on that. The vaccines that are available in the UK have been shown to be effective and safe, which is an important assurance. In line with guidance from the JCVI and following safety data, we recommend that pregnant women get the vaccine as soon as they are asked to do so. It is important to stress that that advice is supported by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Pregnant women who have concerns can discuss them with their clinician and get the latest evidence on safety and what vaccines they will receive. Vaccination is the best way of protecting against the risks of Covid in pregnancy, which include admission of the pregnant mother to intensive care as well as the possible premature birth of the baby.

I ask all members to do everything they can to get the message across to pregnant women that they should take up the offer of vaccination as soon as it is available. It was drawn to my attention yesterday that, when they rightly put forward that sensible advice, voices in the Royal College of Midwives were subjected to all sorts of abuse from anti-vax voices on social media. I condemn that and show my solidarity to those professionals who are giving important and responsible messages to people who stand to benefit so much from vaccination.

I will take Bob Doris’s question away and come back to him with more detail. If he wishes to do so, I ask that he passes on the details of his constituent’s case, and we will see whether we can help to speed up the process. If the process is not as smooth as it needs to be, I undertake to work with other Governments in the UK to improve matters.

I thank Alasdair Allan for that question and I know that the sentiments behind it will be felt very strongly by other members who represent island communities.

Physical distancing has restricted capacity on ferries, and that has resulted in significant problems for people who travel to and from the islands. Although that is frustrating for anyone who wants to travel to or from our islands, it has been particularly and horrendously difficult for those who live on our islands. I understand that, and I thank people for the forbearance that they have shown. In light of today’s announcement on physical distancing, operators will be able to make more foot passenger capacity available from Monday, and that will ease some of the problems that Alasdair Allan talked about. Due to the continued need for enhanced cleaning regimes, there will continue to be a slightly reduced number of timetabled sailings on some routes; as in other settings, it remains important that we keep the environment on our ferries as safe as possible.

Regarding the essential travel needs of islanders, some capacity is being held back for turn-up-and-go travel and, in addition, for urgent medical appointments, islanders are guaranteed a space on the ferry as well as a taxi. The situation has been difficult, but I hope that today’s announcement, which will be operational from Monday, will lead to a significant easing of the challenges that islanders have faced.

Those are perfectly reasonable questions, and I have a lot of sympathy for what Patrick Harvie is saying. He is right to say that, although vaccines are hugely effective and the vaccination programme has been hugely successful, they do not eliminate all risk and harm from the virus. We have never said that they do. However, we now have lots of evidence that vaccines significantly weaken the link between somebody getting Covid and their becoming seriously ill from Covid. Vaccines do not eliminate the link, particularly if a person has underlying health conditions, but they have weakened it. That can be seen in the much lower—albeit still concerning—levels of hospital cases in this wave compared with the levels that we had in previous waves.

There is less certainty about the impact of the vaccines on transmission of the virus, but we hope that they have a positive effect in that regard. I do not think that we can overstate the vaccines’ importance to where we are now and how we hope to continue in the future. However, just as we must be realistic and frank about all such matters, we have to recognise the limitations of the vaccines as we celebrate their enormous success.

Patrick Harvie said that I put a lot of emphasis on Covid status certification. If that is how it sounded, I will try to redress that. I was not seeking to emphasise it or to pull it out as the next big thing that we will definitely do, but I wanted to be frank with Parliament that we are keeping our options open. Although we are not immediately planning to use it, in the app that we are developing there will be functionality that we could use in the future if we decided to have domestic certification, because the principal objective of the app is to make access to certificates easier for international travel. However, that does not mean that we have taken any decisions.

I am highly cautious about Covid passports—to use the colloquial term—for all the reasons that Patrick Harvie set out. I would be passionately and fundamentally opposed to their use for access to public services or anything else that it is essential that people can access. I agree that passports are not a replacement for sensible mitigations, but I think that there is a debate to be had about whether, for venues at which people’s attendance is optional and where we know that there is a higher risk of transmission, Covid passports could play a part in making those settings safer than they might otherwise be. There would have to be agreed exemptions in place, because there are people who cannot get vaccinated.

I am not ruling out Covid certification, as it would not be responsible to do so, but I think that people can hear—if they did not hear it in my original statement—that I am far from convinced that it is a road that we should go down. However, I do not want to close off Parliament’s options, the Government’s options or the country’s options.

I give an undertaking that we will continue not only to update Parliament but to consult and involve it if our thinking on the matter develops to a point at which we are proposing to introduce Covid certification for any particular setting.