The first minister confirms that a vaccination programme for 12 to 15-year-olds will begin next week
Nicola Sturgeon tells MSPs: that "drop-in" clinics will be made available from 20 September, and from 27 September formal invite letters will be sent out to that age group
Booster jabs for over 50s and younger adults with health conditions will be offered in Scotland
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross's concerns focus on the implementation of the children's vaccination programme; booster vaccinations and the rules around covid passports
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar is critical about vaccinations for 12-15-year-olds not starting straight away
There have been 3,375 new cases of Covid-19 and 21 further deaths recorded. The number of positive patients in hospital stands at 1.064
Ms Sturgeon tells MSPs there is evidence that cases are starting to "slow slightly"
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says secondary schools pupils will need to keep wearing face coverings in class until the October holidays.
She says this is because of the high levels of infection still being experienced. The measure will be reviewed at the end of term.
The first minister says there are early signs that cases are now actually starting to fall slightly.
Nicola Sturgeon says: "I am very grateful to everyone – organisations, businesses and individuals – who has taken extra care in recent weeks to try to stop this spike.
"It does seem that these efforts are making a difference."
The first minister begins by giving an update on the latest Covid situation.
There will be no immediate changes to the current regulations.
Ms Sturgeon says she will give detail of the approach to vaccinations of 12 to 15-year-olds.
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The UK health secretary says he is in touch with Scottish Health over the contract termination with Valneva.
Sajid Javid told MPs he had to be careful what he said because there was a commercial contract.
He said: “I have been in touch with the health minister in Scotland and he is fully aware of the situation and we remain in dialogue”
He was asked by SNP Martyn Day for an explanation as to why the contract had been cancelled and putting jobs in Scotland at risk.
We now move to the second topical question.
2. To ask the Scottish Government whether it is in discussions with the UK Government regarding its decision to terminate its supply agreement with Valneva for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, VLA2001.(S6T-00151, external)
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf says the decision to terminate the contract was unilateral from the UK government.
Mr Yousaf says the cancellation will not affect the roll out of the vaccine in Scotland.
Question from Morag in Bearsden
Image source, Getty ImagesThere is no vaccine currently approved for under-12s in the UK.
Globally the vaccination programme has also focused on those aged 12 and above.
In the US, for example, more than 10 million over-12s have received the jab after experts concluded the benefits of protecting against Covid illness and its complications "far outweigh" the small potential risk of an adverse reaction to the vaccine, external.
France, Italy, Canada, Spain and Israel are all vaccinating this age group for the same reason.
4,144,904 people have now received a first dose of vaccine.
3,788,551 have now had a second dose.
95% of people over 40 are now fully vaccinated with two doses, as are 73% of 30 to 39 year olds, and 60% of 18 to 29 year olds.
About 76% of 18 to 29 year-olds have had a first dose.
And 65% of 16 and 17 year olds have now had the first jab - 5 percentage points higher than this time last week.
Tuesday's daily coronavirus statistics have just been published by the Scottish government.
The main numbers:
Image source, Getty ImagesToday is all about Covid-19 vaccines and who should get a jab
2.05-2.20pm Topical Questions - there's two today:
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Scottish government has previously said it is ready to begin vaccinating 12-15-year-olds immediately
2.20-3.20pm: First Minister’s Statement: COVID-19 Update(20mins statement, 40mins questions)
3.20-5.00pm:Scottish Government Debate: A Caring Nation – Recovering, Remobilising and Renewing Health and Social Care in Scotland
5.00pm: Decision Time
Question from Nichola in Dumfries
Image source, Getty ImagesThe vaccine is likely to be given in schools and parents will be asked to give consent.
But if the child and parent have different views, the child can give consent themselves if they are considered competent.
The NHS in England says that children under 16 can consent "if they're believed to have enough intelligence, competence and understanding to fully appreciate what's involved in their treatment". This is known as being "Gillick competent", external.
In Scotland consent is detailed in the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991.
Those aged 16 and 17 do not need the permission of a parent to have the vaccine, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
Question from Janet in Falkirk
Image source, PA MediaA booster campaign for over 50s will start this month in a bid to control the pandemic through the winter.
The move, confirmed on Tuesday by UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid, follows advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
The booster will be a single dose of the Pfizer vaccine, regardless of which vaccine people had previously.
It will be administered at least six months after a second dose.
Question from Morag in Kirkcaldy
Image source, Getty ImagesCovid vaccination certificates - so called Covid passports - will be introduced from 1 October.
The new rules, external mean people in Scotland over the age of 18 will need to show they are fully vaccinated before they are allowed entry to: Nightclubs and comparable venues; adult entertainment venues; unseated indoor live events for more than 500 people; unseated outdoor live events for more than 4,000 people; and any event for more than 10,000 people.
An app will be made available to venues from 13 September, enabling staff to check customers' QR codes.
From 30 September, customers can download an NHS Scotland Covid Status App to show their vaccination QR codes. From that date, the current downloadable PDF function, external via the NHS inform website will be switched off.
Anyone unable or unwilling to use the app can request a "secure un-editable paper record of vaccination" instead.
Question from Anne in Glasgow
Image source, PA MediaFace coverings must continue to be worn by law in most indoor public places, external in Scotland.
These include indoor communal spaces, workplaces and public transport unless you are exempt, external for specific circumstances.
This includes theatres, cinemas, dance halls, libraries and public reading rooms, museums and galleries, comedy clubs, concert halls and nightclubs.
There is a specific exemption from wearing a face covering for a person who is seated at a table in a hospitality setting, such as a café, bar or restaurant.
They also can be removed for eating or drinking, whether standing or seated, and for dancing in a nightclub or music venue.
Lunchtime Live
BBC Radio Scotland
Bruce Adamson, children's commissioner for Scotland
Bruce Adamson, the children and young people's commissioner for Scotland believes children have a right to be involved in decisions that affect them.
He says the Age of Legal Capacity (Scotland) Act 1991 sets out very clearly that a child who is judged by a qualified medical practitioner to have the capability of understanding the nature and consequences of a procedure can give consent to that.
Mr Adamson says that across the country parents will be having conversations about the Covid vaccine with their children and that parents play a "really important role" in supporting decision making and ensuring the child has the right information to make an informed decision.
He said: "This is why it is going to be a very important thing coming from the first minister and the Scottish government this afternoon about what the plan is to make sure there is authoritative, child-friendly information about the vaccine.
"It is also about the decision behind offering this to 12-15 year-olds and the fact the reason they have made this offer is not just because of the direct impacts of Covid, but all those other impacts of isolation and missing school.
There is a broad range of rights that are impacted when children are affected by Covid."
Question from Laura in Castle Douglas
Image source, PA MediaUnder 18s are currently exempt from Scotland’s vaccine passport scheme so they will not be required to show proof of vaccination before a football match featuring a crowd of more than 10,000.
How the scheme will work in practice at matches remains unclear after the head of Scotland's professional football league has said it would be "very difficult" to check that all fans had a vaccine passport.
However on Monday Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said that large scale events could "potentially" feature Covid passport spot checks in a bid to prevent lengthy queues and possible disorder.
Nick Triggle
Health Correspondent
There's a reason this decision-making process has been so long and, at times, seemingly painful - it's such a finely-balanced call.
Healthy children aged 12 to 15 are at such low risk from Covid, that the benefit of vaccination on health grounds is only marginal - and not enough to warrant going ahead with a mass vaccination programme.
And add in the benefit from limiting school disruption and you only just get there.
The emergence of the Delta variant means the vaccines are less effective at preventing infection than they once were.
What is more, more than half of secondary school age children may have natural immunity after having been infected.
The assessment released by the CMOs suggests it may stop 30,000 infections between October and March in England.
This is based on a number of assumptions on uptake and spread of the virus in the coming months which could be wrong.
But if that is the case that would prevent 110,000 missed days of in-person schooling - or one day for every 20 children. The attention given to this issue is, perhaps, rather disproportionate.
Mornings with Kaye Adams
BBC Radio Scotland
Caller Robert said he did not want to give his child a "trial vaccine" and worried about future possible side effects of such a new medication.
Dr Simon Williams, a public health researcher at Swansea University tried to settle what he said was a common fear over the Covid vaccines, which to some seem to have been developed in a short period of time.
He said: "One of the virtues of having this vaccine made available to 12-15-year-olds in the UK a little later than many argued for and a little later than other countries, is we are not just seeing clinical trials and the efficacy of those trials in very controlled clinical trial settings but now we are seeing it rolled out in countries like the US and across the EU.
"Yes we can focus on the term "trial" but if you look for example at the US there was a very well designed trial for the food and drug administration where they looked at this in over 2,000 participants and they had very high efficacy, in fact 100% with two doses.
"We are beyond the initial trials and we are in a good position to be able to say that what we do know is that these are safe and they are effective in children. "
Public health expert Prof Linda Bauld
Linda Bauld, professor of public health and Scottish government adviser, believes every parent and young person should have all their questions answered before deciding on taking the vaccine.
She spoke to BBC Radio Scotland's Kaye Adams and highlighted three things she believed were important.
1. Vaccinating 12 to 15 year-olds is not simply a health issue
Prof Bauld said the JCVI's conclusion was that the health benefits for this age group were marginal. It said that the benefits of vaccinating 12-15s did outweigh not vaccinating, but only slightly. The JCVI recommended that the chief medical officers should look at whether the benefits were greater when relating to the continued disruption of young teenagers' lives, particularly the educational disruption. And this is what brought them to recommend vaccinating this cohort.
2. The more of the population vaccinated, the less the disruption
She said that there was an argument that the more people you vaccinate in a country the more population immunity you have. Vaccines don't stop transmission but they reduce the risk of transmission, so by teenagers having a vaccine they will also be contributing to the protection of older groups.
"It will help prevent disruption in education by ensuring that more children are not infected with the virus and they will be less likely to pick it up if they have been vaccinated. Fewer of them will pick it up as a result of more of them being vaccinated."
She added that in England it is estimated vaccinating 12-15s will reduce around 30,000 infections between October and March.
3. Long Covid is an additional risk worth considering
Prof Bauld said evidence that the JCVI and the CMOs did not include in their considerations was Long Covid because it was still uncertain. But she added that between two to 13% of this age group, if they test positive and have symptoms, may develop Long Covid.
"That's something else we want to try to protect them against and there is some evidence that vaccination will reduce the risk of Long Covid, so it is evolving science but an important piece of the jigsaw," she said.
Mornings with Kaye Adams
BBC Radio Scotland
Andrea Bradley, the assistant general secretary of the EIS, Scotland’s largest teachers’ union, says a vaccine rollout to 12-15-year-olds would be a “potentially very important strategy” for keeping schools open.
She said record numbers of pupil and teacher absences since schools reopened in August had already caused significant disruption to young people's education.
And she also said that there was concern over the high infection rates.
Quote Message“There are pretty high levels of anxiety around the potential for new variants to emerge if we just enable infections to run amok through the population and particularly among the population of school pupils.”
Andrea Bradley, Assistant general secretary, EIS union
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Scotland's National Clinical Director Jason Leitch urges students to get the jab.