• No changes are being made to Scotland's Covid mitigations, such as the wearing of face coverings
• £482m will be used to help the NHS over winter - about £225m of which will be for staffing and equipment
• The first minister confirms Scotland will align with the rest of the UK's post-arrival lateral flow travel testing regime from 31 October
• People attending the COP26 climate summit will be expected to follow the same rules as the general public

• Nicola Sturgeon says NHS Grampian must refine its request for military support "to an appropriate degree" before the Scottish government will contact the MoD
• A number of elderly people have had to wait hours for their Covid booster jags, according to Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar - but the first minister insists the programme is on track
• Ms Sturgeon says it makes "no practical difference" to open a booster appointment portal for the over-50s in November, after it was pointed out that the Scottish government missed its initial October target

That's all from our live page coverage for today.

Image source, Getty Images

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton asks why the Scottish government missed the target of having a booster appointment portal up and running in October.

The FM says they gave done things "in a way we judge to be quickest and most effective".

She says it was decided to issue letters to over-70s for booster appointments and open the portal to over-50s in November - adding that she is in the over-50 group and it "makes no practical difference" to her as it has not been six months since she had her last vaccine.

Mr Sarwar says the booster vaccination programme is letting some people down.

The Scottish Labour leader gives MSPs a number of examples where elderly people waited hours for their jabs or were denied them.

He says: "These are not figures on a spreadsheet, these are people's mothers, fathers and grandparents."

Nicola Sturgeon says the booster vaccination programme was a huge priority for her government and insists it is on track.

Image source, Getty Images

Anas Sarwar says the NHS “needs more capacity right now” to deliver more booster jabs.

The Scottish Labour leader tells MSPs the tens of thousands of people who are beyond the six-month mark for boosters need answers on when they will get their dates.

Ms Sturgeon says the booster rollout would be speeded up “as soon as possible” but pointed out many people had gone beyond the six-month mark before medical approval was even granted for the booster jab programme.

Image source, PA Media

Mr Ross also asks whether the first minister will update Parliament on NHS Grampian's request for military support.

She says a request to the Ministry of Defence will be submitted when Grampian's request "has been refined to an appropriate degree".

Ms Sturgeon says it is important health boards don’t request things they don’t need and make sure requests are "properly framed".

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross asks the FM why 100,000 people waiting on their booster jags are being held up and whether there are enough clinics to make sure vaccines are delivered locally

Ms Sturgeon says that booster delivery in Scotland is in line with the rest of the UK and her government will do everything possible to accelerate this "within the confines" of advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

She adds that her government has balanced local delivery with large-scale delivery.

Image source, SEC

Nicola Sturgeon says everyone attending the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow will be expected to follow the same rules as the general public.

Ms Sturgeon tells MSPs it is "it is inevitably the case" that such a large-scale event "poses a risk of increased Covid transmission" but mitigation measures are in place.

The first minister says delegates will be expected to wear face masks in enclosed public spaces and on public transport.

Everyone arriving in Glasgow from outside the Common Travel Area will also need to show a negative test result before they arrive in the UK.

Image source, Reuters

Ms Sturgeon announces Scotland will align with the rest of the UK's post-arrival testing regime from 31 October.

It means that fully-vaccinated people, returning from non-red list countries, no longer have to take a PCR test two days after arrival in Scotland.

Instead, they will take a cheaper and simpler lateral flow test.

Passengers need to book these tests before travelling and must send a picture of their lateral flow test to verify the result.

The lateral flow tests for travel must be bought from private providers - NHS kits cannot be used.

Image source, Getty Images

The FM turns to the Covid booster programme, saying more than half a million people have had this jag.

She says the over-50 age group will be invited around November-December while the over-70s are being prioritised just now.

The portal for younger age groups to book a booster appointment will open in November, she adds.

Ms Sturgeon highlights that because Covid and flu vaccines are being administered at the same time for certain groups, it may mean some people get their flu jag "slightly later" - but she adds the "timing is entirely clinically appropriate".

The Scottish government will help health boards with recruitment for the booster programme, and encourage the use of students and primary care staff where appropriate, she adds.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon confirms a £482m funding package to help the NHS over winter - £120m for test and protect, £130m for the vaccine programme and the remaining balance for "staffing and equipment".

She says the NHS is arguably under more pressure now than at any point of the pandemic and Covid cases are only likely to rise in the coming months.

While case numbers are lower now than early September, she says, there is a slight difference in age distribution - more older age groups are testing positive than younger groups, which she says is why hospital admissions have not declined as steeply as cases.

The first minister begins her speech by confirming that no changes will be made to the Covid mitigations in place - including rules around face masks.

She says while Scotland's situation has "greatly improved" since August, it "remains fragile" heading into winter months and she cannot ignore that cases are "creeping up".

However, she points out that since August, cases have declined quickly without the need for further restrictions which suggests that factors including the vaccination programme were able to stem the Delta variant.

She adds that Scotland currently has the lowest case rate of the four UK nations.

Image source, Getty Images

Nicola Sturgeon is about to update MSPs at Holyrood on the latest developments around the coronavirus crisis.

You can follow the first minister’s statement right here or click on the tab above for coverage on the BBC Scotland channel.

Image source, Getty Images

With the NHS under unprecedented pressure due to Covid and other issues, BBC Scotland has learned a request for military support by NHS Grampian has yet to be received by the Ministry of Defence more than a week later.

On 18 October it became the latest health board to ask for help to relieve pressure ahead of the winter.

The Scottish government said last week that it was under urgent consideration. However, the MoD said it had not yet received any request.

It follows appeals from NHS Lanarkshire and the Borders over staff shortages.

Read more here

As of 08:30 this morning, 4,309,932 people in Scotland had received their first dose of the vaccine.

In addition, 3,897,133 have received their second dose.

A further 2,262 people have tested positive for Covid – which is 11.5% of the tests carried out yesterday.

There are 917 people in hospital with recently confirmed Covid-19, and 59 were in intensive care yesterday.

There have also been 20 more deaths recorded in the past 24 hours of people who tested positive in the previous 28 days.

After giving a statement, the first minister is likely to face questions on figures which show a significant number of Scots most at risk from Covid are still waiting for a booster jab.

That is despite people in the top priority vaccine groups having received their second dose more than six months ago.

Read more here

Image source, Getty Images

Good afternoon and welcome to BBC Scotland's rolling coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in Scotland on Tuesday 26 October 2021.

Nicola Sturgeon will be updating MSPs at Holyrood from 14:30 on the latest developments around the coronavirus crisis.

You can follow the first minister’s statement right here or click on the tab above for coverage on the BBC Scotland channel.