Covid Scotland: no date for travel vaccine status app

No date has been set yet for a Scottish app showing people's vaccination status, Nicola Sturgeon has said, as the travel industry called for "urgent" action to tackle the issue.

In Scotland travellers need to apply for a paper copy of their vaccine certificate, which can take days to arrive.The Scottish Passenger Agents' Association (SPAA) said that Scotland needs to be able to operate at the same level as other UK nations. In England, the NHS app can be used to prove vaccine status.

Joanne Dooey, president of the SPAA, the professional body for travel agents and the travel sector in Scotland, said: “We continue to raise the question of travel certification and how Scotland will deliver a scheme to allow the public to provide proof of vaccination status in order to fly to other countries. Currently English travellers can use the NHS app to prove their certification status and this integrates with the EU Digital COVID Certificate (EUDCC) which gives digital proof of a traveller’s vaccination, testing and recovered from COVID-19 status.

“The Scottish Government needs, as a matter of urgency, to tell us what stage, if any, the development of a Scottish app is at. Currently, Scots who wish to travel, have to apply for a paper certificate and we need to be operating at the same level as the other countries which have developed and are already using this technology."

Ms Sturgeon said a date had not been set for when a digital form of the certification would be available.

She said: "We're working on a digital solution to people being able to get their vaccine status for the purposes of essential travel. That's not yet at the point of being introduced and I that will update on that shortly, but in the meantime you can get your vaccine certification if you need to travel through the way we set out before, where you can order it and have it sent to you."

A “vaccination status letter” scheme which could be downloaded online from the NHS Inform patient portal, was launched in May, but scrapped amid security concerns.

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