• Scotland's new vaccine passport system will not be enforced until more than two weeks after it is introduced, the first minister confirmed
• People going to nightclubs and many other large events will need proof they have had two doses of vaccine from 05:00 on Friday
• Ms Sturgeon said there would now be a "grace period" until 18 October
• The Scottish Conservatives will lead a debate and vote tomorrow calling for what they described as the "botched scheme" to be scrapped
• Labour and the Lib Dems also attacked the government's plans for vaccine certification

• Nicola Sturgeon confirmed that from 4 October there will be no need for pre-departure tests for people travelling into Scotland and those who have been fully vaccinated
• A £25m fund to help small and medium businesses to improve ventilation was also announced by the first minister
• Ms Sturgeon said she was hopeful that Covid case numbers will continue to fall
• There were a further 16 Covid-related deaths recorded in the past 24 hours

That's all from the Live Page team today. Please take care and stay safe.

Alex Cole-Hamilton says every opposition party is opposed to the vaccine passport scheme.

He calls on the first minister to "abandon this assault on the right to medical privacy today".

"No, because I want to do everything that is reasonably possible to keep people and the country as a whole as safe as possible from the risk of Covid," replies Nicola Sturgeon.

The first minister says vaccination does reduce the risk of transmission and the risk of people becoming seriously unwell.

She insists the Scottish government will continue to work with businesses and take pragmatic necessary steps.

Image source, AFP

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar highlights that more than one in four A&E patients are waiting more than four hours to be seen and that Scotland is still failing to hit targets on cancer treatment.

He also says the Covid 'Test and Protect' system is not working and that he still has "ethical and practical concerns" around vaccine passports, citing his own certificate as incomplete because it failed to include details of his first jag.

Nicola Sturgeon says that while there will be some errors made, there is a process in place to rectify someone’s vaccine record when it is incomplete.

The government has not ruled out including a negative test to enter venues as part of Covid certification at a later date, but at this stage they want to "drive up rates of vaccination as high as we can get them", the first minister says.

Test and Protect is working well, Ms Sturgeon insists, even if the system comes under pressure when cases are high.

She admits cancer waiting times remain "a challenge" but points out the latest figures show referrals on urgent treatment pathways are now back to pre-pandemic levels.

There has been a “slight improvement” on A&E waiting times this week, she adds, but the government is "not complacent" about the need for continued improvements.

The first minister says Douglas Ross has opposed every measure the Scottish government has introduced to try and stem the rise in Covid cases.

Ms Sturgeon explains it is because the government is listening to business that is has announced “a very pragmatic compromise” to the vaccine certification scheme.

She argues businesses want a period without enforcement to ensure their arrangements are working well.

The first minister insists her government considered very carefully the UK’s international travel rules before aligning with them.

She also details efforts to free up bed capacity in the NHS and adds “there is a hard winter ahead of us”.

I’m a student from Northern Ireland. How am I supposed to get a vaccine passport?published at 15:18 British Summer Time 28 September 2021

15:18 BST 28 September 2021

Question from Lara in Belfast

Image source, Getty Images

Those who have received both doses in another Common Travel Area country need to request their vaccination status from that country.

In the case of Northern Ireland it can be obtained via the NI direct website, external.

This is a temporary process and NHS Scotland, external says it is working with colleagues in other Common Travel Area countries to create a system that will allow them to combine records.

Image source, EPA

Douglas Ross says that despite the fall in Covid case numbers "Scotland's NHS remains in crisis."

The Scottish Conservative leader says the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has called for 1,000 more acute beds. Douglas Ross asks how many have been identified?

He also says it is welcomed that the Scottish government have u-turned and finally agreed to align the travel rules in Scotland with the rest of the UK.

He then moves on to vaccine passports and says the first minister has conceded in her statement the scheme is not ready.

The Scottish Conservative leader tells the chamber his party are bringing forward a debate and vote on vaccine passports tomorrow, in which they will call for the "botched scheme" to be halted.

He calls on the government to cut its losses on the "shambles of a scheme and scrap it altogether".

The first minister concludes by saying "we are in a better position than we might have hoped for just a few weeks ago" as we approach winter with Covid still circulating, but without any significant restrictions in place.

Despite cases reducing by half in the past three weeks, there is "no room for complacency about the potential impact we might face this winter," Nicola Sturgeon says.

The surge has been halted, but cases are still too high for comfort and "it is vital that we don’t let up".

Image source, Getty Images

Bringing in vaccine passports means there will no longer be any limits on capacities for stadia and live events, the first minister says.

The certification scheme will apply to late night venues open after midnight with alcohol, music and dancing; to live indoor unseated events of more than 500 people; to live outdoor unseated events of more than 4,000 people; and to any event of more than 10,000 people.

Once the scheme starts, anyone over the age of 18 who wants to go to a large event or a late night venue will have to provide evidence that they are fully vaccinated, or evidence that they are exempt, the first minister says.

The NHS Covid Status App will go live this Thursday, she adds. It will provide a digital record of a user’s vaccination status, including a QR code for each vaccination a person has received.

Do you still need to do the Day-two test after returning to Scotland from holiday?published at 14:59 British Summer Time 28 September 2021

14:59 BST 28 September 2021

Question from Dorothy in Kinloch

Image source, PA Media

The Scottish government last week confirmed fully-vaccinated people travelling from overseas no longer have to take pre-departure Covid tests three days before their flight.

For practical purposes Scotland will also align with the UK's post-arrival testing regime but details of that are still being finalised.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon admits she is making these changes "with some reluctance".

Ms Sturgeon said people living in Scotland could decide to return home via English airports if different rules were in place.

She did confirm that work was under way with Public Health Scotland to develop "additional surveillance safeguards" to help guard against the risk of new variants and stresses these will not result in additional costs for travellers.

But, for now, people must continue to take PCR tests within two days of arriving in Scotland.

The Scottish government is allocate up to £25m of funding to help small and medium-sized businesses improve ventilation in an attempt to stop Covid transmission, following recommendations from an expert group.

The support - which will include grants - will help businesses make adjustments to their premises, for example the installation of carbon dioxide monitors or alterations to windows and vents, says Ms Sturgeon.

The first minister expects the first payments to be made in November.

The fund will initially target higher-risk sectors where people spend significant amounts of time in close proximity to each other, such as hospitality and leisure, particularly in indoor settings.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister confirms that from 4 October there will be no need for pre-departure tests for people travelling into Scotland, and people who have been fully vaccinated - or are under 18 - will no longer need to provide a pre-departure test result if they are coming from countries not on the red list.

Details are still being finalised on aligning policy on post-arrival testing with England, Nicola Sturgeon says, with concerns that removing testing requirements could hamper efforts to detect new variants.

But the "practical consequences" of people living in Scotland being able to return home via airports based in England would disadvantage the aviation and travel sector in Scotland, "without any significant public health advantage", says the first minister.

The Scottish government is working with Public Health Scotland to develop "additional surveillance safeguards" to help guard against the risk of new variants, she adds.

Future arrangements will not incur costs for travellers, she says.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister confirms that vaccine passports for nightclubs and large events will be introduced in Scotland on Friday, but it will be 18 October before a business could face “enforcement action for non-compliance”.

Nicola Sturgeon says she wants to give business a period to “adapt” to the scheme.

The scheme had originally been due to start on 1 October.

The vaccine passport plan was formally approved by Holyrood after the SNP and Greens voted in favour.

Some businesses have complained of a lack of detail about how the scheme will work in practice.

Ms Sturgeon says the collective mitigation efforts are clearly having an impact.

"If we stick with it, I am hopeful that we will keep a downward pressure on cases as we head into the winter period."

Ms Sturgeon says: "It is extremely positive that case numbers have fallen significantly.

"But they remain more than two and a half times higher than early August."

She warns there remains a risk that cases could rise again.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister praises students and staff at colleges and universities for their efforts in stopping the spread of the virus as a new term gets under way.

This contrasts with a rapid increase in Covid cases at the same time last year, which was "at least in part" down to students returning to university, Ms Sturgeon says.

There has not been a similar increase so far this year; in fact it "could tentatively be argued that the reverse is true", she points out.

Cases in the 15 to 24-year-old age groups have actually been falling, the FM adds, which "will be due in part to the impact of vaccination".

She also recognises "how much effort has gone into making student campuses and accommodation as safe as possible - and I am deeply grateful for all those efforts," she says.

"Although Covid cases do remain at a high level, they are continuing to fall," continues the first minister.

Case numbers now are below the previous peak of early July.

Nicola Sturgeon says the steepest falls have been in the 15-19 and in the 20-24 age groups.

The first minister also confirms the programme of booster vaccinations is also under way.

Care home residents started getting booster jags last week.

From this week, those over 70 and those on the highest risk list will also start to get booster jags.

People in these groups will be notified of appointments by GPs or by letter.

Nicola Sturgeon tells the chamber people on the highest risk list who are immunosuppressed or immunocompromised are being invited separately for a third dose.

Image source, Getty Images

The first minister says the vaccination programme continues to make "very good progress".

Nicola Sturgeon says the next stage of the vaccination has begun, with jags for 12 to 15 year olds.

Appointment letters are being sent out this week to everyone in that age group.

Image source, PA Media

Nicola Sturgeon will now update MSPs on the latest from the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland.

The latest daily figures published by the Scottish government show another 2,370 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Scotland. That is 10.6% of the total number of tests carried out.

This takes the total number of positive cases in Scotland since the start of the pandemic to 560,334.

There are 1,027 patients in hospital with a confirmed case (up four on yesterday), with 73 being treated in intensive care (down three).

A further 16 people who tested positive have had their deaths registered, taking the total by that measure to 8,551.

A total of 4,184,574 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination, while 3,832,498 have received their second dose.

Here's what we're covering today in the chamber:

• 2.05pm: Topical questions: There are three today. The first question is on lorry driver shortages and related fuel shortages, This is followed by queries about staffing levels at the QEUH and in Police Scotland
• 2.20-3.20pm First Minister’s Statement: COVID-19 Update(20mins statement, 40mins questions)