Question reference: S5W-34566
- Asked by: Alex Cole-Hamilton, MSP for Edinburgh Western, Scottish Liberal Democrats
- Date lodged: 13 January 2021
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Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 23 February 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S5W-33208 by Humza Yousaf on 30 November 2020, in light of the cabinet secretary's comment that "as we gather data on how vaccines confer immunity, we will explore the potential role of immunity passports", whether it will provide an update on its position regarding the introduction of so-called health or immunity passports that document people’s infection and vaccination status for COVID-19, and what discussions it has had with the UK Government regarding their potential use.
Answer
It is too soon to introduce any form of certification. We need to know more about the efficacy of the vaccines, their impact on transmission and the length of immunity before it would be safe to introduce a vaccine certificate.
We continue to engage in national and international developments in relation to Coronavirus (COVID-19), including on the issue of vaccine certification. These discussions are led by the World Health Organisation and include consideration of technical details, ethical and equality issues, and privacy standards. The outcome of those discussions will guide our work and decision-making in this area.