 I now moved on to the next item of business, which is a statement by Nicola Sturgeon on Covid-19 update. The First Minister's statement will be followed by questions, and so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister. Thanks, Presiding Officer. I will give an update today on the latest Covid situation. I can confirm that the Cabinet met this morning and decided not to make any immediate changes to the current regulations in place. I will also give an update on certain other issues, most notably the mitigations in place for schools, including, of course, our approach to vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds and the issue of a vaccine booster programme, which we have received final JCVI advice on this morning. Firstly, to recap on today's statistics, 3,375 cases were reported yesterday, 11.4 per cent of all tests. 1,064 people are currently in hospital with Covid-19, 16 more than yesterday, and 89 people are receiving intensive care. That is one fewer than yesterday. Sadly, a further 21 deaths have been reported in the past 24 hours, and the total number of deaths under the daily definition is now 8,263. As always, I send my condolences to everyone who has lost a loved one. Good progress continues to be made in the vaccination programme. As of this morning, 4,144,904 people have had a first dose, and 3,788,551 have now had both doses. 95 per cent of people over 40 are fully vaccinated with two doses now, as are 73 per cent of 30 to 39-year-olds and 60 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds. Around 76 per cent of 18 to 29-year-olds have had a first dose, so the proportion in that age group who become fully vaccinated will continue to increase in the weeks ahead. In addition, 65 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds have now had the first jag, which is five percentage points higher than at this time last week. Although the level of infection in Scotland remains too high, there are continuing signs that the recent spike in cases is now slowing down. Indeed, we are now seeing early signs, not just that the rate of increases is slowing, but that cases are now actually starting to fall slightly. That can be seen in the last three weeks' data. In the week to 28 August, there were an average of 5,651 new cases a day, which was an increase of more than 80 per cent on the previous week. In the week to 4 September, average daily cases were 6,290, still an increase but one of just 11 per cent. However, in the seven days to the 11 September, so the most recent seven-day period, cases have fallen to an average of 5,506 per day, which is 12 per cent lower than last week. It might also be worth providing some detail on the age breakdown of cases. In the past week, more than 70 per cent of cases have been in the under 45s, and that is consistent with the pattern that we have seen throughout this latest wave. However, the picture varies across different age groups. That said, there are broadly positive signs now in all of them. Two weeks ago, in the week to 4 September, the number of cases in the 0 to 14-year-old band rose by 51 per cent. However, in the past week, cases in that age group have fallen by 5 per cent. Amongst 15 to 24-year-olds, cases fell by 16 per cent two weeks ago and have now fallen even further by 34 per cent in the most recent week. Two weeks ago, cases in the 25 to 44-year-old age group rose by 7 per cent, and last week they fell by 14 per cent. Finally, the number of cases among the over 65s has risen slightly, but, again, the rate of increase has slowed down over the past week. This most recent data underpinned Cabinet's decision earlier today not to reintroduce any restrictions. I am very grateful to everyone—organisations, businesses and individuals—who have taken extra care in recent weeks to try to stop this spike. It seems that these efforts are making a difference. That said, of course, our position remains challenging, even though new cases have fallen. They remain five times higher than at the start of August. Universities are now returning for a new term. That is very welcome, but it also creates some additional risk. I will say more shortly about how we are working to mitigate that risk. Overall, though, the key point is this. The recent falling cases are very welcome, but we cannot take it for granted. We must continue efforts to keep cases on a downward track. The NHS is already under considerable pressure, and any further rising cases would intensify that. As we know, vaccination has significantly weakened the link between cases of Covid and serious health harm from Covid. The proportion of people with the virus who end up in hospital remains much lower now than before the vaccine programme started, but current case numbers reflect how transmissible the delta variant is. As we can see already, even a lower percentage of a large number of cases results in a high number of hospitalisations. To illustrate that, on 28 August, there were 312 people in hospital with Covid. Today, there are 1,064. The number in intensive care has also increased from 34 on 20 August to 89 today. Of course, those figures do not include people who do not need hospital care but nevertheless suffer long Covid. It is also important to remember that the pressure that the NHS has experienced in falls on staff who have in many cases been working flat out since the start of the pandemic. It comes at a time when the NHS is working to catch up on a backlog and care for everyone who needs it, not just Covid patients. The Government continues to work closely with health boards to help to manage those pressures, but, as has been the case throughout the pandemic, everyone has a role to play. At the start of the pandemic, we constantly emphasised the need to protect our NHS. That is still necessary and should give all of us even more incentive to get vaccinated test regularly and take all the basic precautions that we know can slow down transmission. An additional reason for continued caution is that it helps to protect those who are most at risk. The UK Government announced earlier today that it will no longer use its shielding patient list. In light of that, and to avoid any mistaken assumption, it is important for us to confirm that the Scottish Government is not following suit at this stage. We will continue to use our equivalent list, which is the highest risk list. We have used it throughout the pandemic to communicate with all those at highest risk and ensure that they have advice and support. We will continue to keep this under review but, for the moment, we believe that it is important to retain it. I will now provide a brief update on some specific strands of work. First, I can confirm that Cabinet Secretaries are continuing to engage with representatives from business, the public sector and wider civic society to encourage maximum compliance with the mitigation still in place. I will be taking part in a table meeting with a range of stakeholders immediately after this statement to underline the importance of this work. I am again grateful to all businesses and organisations for the efforts being made to follow and promote measures such as the wearing of face coverings, good ventilation and hygiene, and wherever possible, continued home working. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, the university term is now starting. Colleges began their return a few weeks ago and we have been working closely with universities, colleges and the wider sector to make the return as safe as possible. As a precaution at this stage, colleges and universities will not be holding large in-person lectures for now. Instead, there will be a mix of online and in-person learning with institutions themselves deciding the level of in-person teaching that they will offer during this term. In addition, physical distancing will remain in place on campuses and face coverings will be required in indoor public spaces. We are also, of course, encouraging students to get tested regularly. Test kits are available on campuses and students who are moving to term-time accommodation should book a PCR test before making that move. Above all, we are strongly encouraging students to get vaccinated if they have not done so already. Mobile vaccination units are being deployed in universities and colleges during freshers weeks and vaccination will continue to be made available throughout the term. Health board webpages will contain details of local drop-in clinics and clinics operating within colleges or universities. We are also continuing to work with local authorities to make schools and childcare centres as safe as possible, for example, through support for the use of carbon dioxide monitors and improved ventilation. We have also received further advice from the advisory subgroup on education. I want to take the opportunity today to highlight two points arising from that advice. First, we indicated at the start of term that secondary school pupils would need to wear face coverings in class for the first six weeks of term subject to a review at that point. Given the continuing high levels of infection that has still been experienced at this stage, the advisory subgroup has advised that this requirement should remain in place until the October holidays and be reviewed again then. I know how unpopular this is with many pupils and I completely understand why, but for now it remains a prudent and unnecessary precaution. Second, we intend to clarify an aspect of guidance on contact tracing in schools to help ensure fuller understanding of the process. There is no change in advice for close contacts thought to be at high risk of having Covid. They will continue to be advised to self-isolate until they have returned a negative PCR test. For children and young people, a high-risk contact is most likely to be a household member or someone they have stayed overnight with. However, we will clarify guidance on the letters that schools send to lower-risk contacts. Those letters should be sent on a targeted basis to those who are most likely to have had lower-risk contact with someone who has tested positive. They ensure that parent staff and pupils are aware of those cases and the letters offer advice on issues such as looking out for symptoms and using lateral flow testing. Our updated guidance might mean, for example, that it is appropriate to send letters to the classmates of a pupil who has tested positive but not necessarily to everyone in their year group. We hope that better targeting will help to reinforce the importance of the messages in those letters while minimising undue anxiety. In addition, the advice on the letters will be strengthened in one respect. They will recommend to primary and secondary school pupils and staff who receive them that a lateral flow test is taken before the next return to school. That test should be in addition to the regular twice-weekly lateral flow testing that is recommended for all secondary school pupils and staff. All of those measures reflect our commitment to prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people and our determination to minimise disruption to education. That consideration was also central to the advice that the Scottish Welsh and UK Governments and the Northern Irish Executive received yesterday from our chief medical officers. Members will recall that the JCVI had concluded that the benefit of vaccination—the health benefit for 12 to 15-year-olds—did outwey any risks, but that, because it was marginal, it could not recommend a universal offer of vaccine to this age group on health grounds alone. However, it indicated that it would be appropriate for chief medical officers to consider whether any wider issues might tip the balance in the other direction. The CMOs have now done so and concluded that vaccination could reduce disruption to education and that, taken together with the health benefits previously identified in the JCVI advice, extending the offer of vaccination to all 12 to 15-year-olds is justified. Taking the broader view of the benefits and risks of vaccination, the CMOs are recommending that 12 to 15-year-olds should be offered one dose of the Pfizer vaccine. That advice has been broadly endorsed by the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health. I am very grateful to all of the four chief medical officers for assessing the evidence on the issue with such pace and with such rigor. I can confirm to Parliament today that the Scottish Government welcomes and accepts that recommendation. We believe that vaccination of 12 to 15-year-olds is important, and we will therefore move to implement the advice as quickly as possible. Our supplies of vaccine are adequate to allow us to do that. It is, of course, important to stress how important informed consent is. I know that many young people and their parents will have questions. Material will be made available online later this week. It will be appropriate to both young people and adults. It will seek to answer questions and provide balanced information to help young people and their parents to make informed choices. I can confirm that from Monday 20 September, so Monday coming, drop-in clinics will be open for any 12 to 15-year-old who has read the information and in discussion with parents and carers decided that they do wish to be vaccinated. It will, of course, be appropriate for parents or carers to accompany their children to clinics, and vaccinators will be on hand to answer any further questions or address any concerns. Then starting in the following week, so week beginning 27 September, letters will be sent to all 12 to 15-year-olds inviting them to an appointment at a drop-in centre or vaccination clinic. Again, parents and carers will be invited to accompany their children, and again the appointment will include an opportunity to ask questions and discuss concerns. Finally, after the scheduled community sessions, there will be a programme of vaccination in schools to ensure that anyone who has not been vaccinated and who decides that they want to be gets a further opportunity. I know that those are important decisions for young people and their parents and that many will have questions. I would encourage everyone to read the information that will be provided and do not hesitate to visit a drop-in clinic to ask any questions or raise any concerns. Vaccination is a vital part of our overall protection against this virus. That is why it is important to support people, perhaps especially young people, to make informed choices that they feel comfortable with. In addition to the CMO advice on 12 to 15-year-olds, we have received this morning the final JCVI advice on a vaccine booster programme. That is in addition to the third doses already being offered to people who were severely immunosuppressed or immunocompromised at the time of their first or second vaccination. I can confirm that the Scottish Government is also accepting this advice, and again we have adequate supplies to move ahead with this. The booster programme is intended to prolong the protection that vaccines provide against severe Covid illness. It will run alongside our biggest ever flu vaccine programme, since of course both of those programmes are important for individual and for public health. Wherever possible, eligible people will be offered Covid and flu vaccines together. Booster vaccines will be offered to all adults over 50, to front-line health and care workers and to younger adults with certain health conditions. That put them at higher risk and to adult household contacts of people with suppressed immune systems. The JCVI has also advised that there should be an interval of at least six months between a second dose and a booster dose. Let me now give a broad outline of the order in which we will now move to implement the booster programme, and of course we will set out more details shortly. Front-line health and social care workers will be able to book their booster appointment online through NHS Inform from Monday 20 September, so that again is Monday coming. Also from next week, residents and care homes for older people will be offered both flu and Covid booster vaccines. Adults aged 70 or over and everyone aged over 16 on the highest risk list will be contacted very shortly, either by letter or by their GP. Other eligible groups, all adults over 50, all those 16 to 49 with underlying health conditions, adult carers, unpaid and young carers, and adult household contacts of people who are immunosuppressed will be able to book online from October. Those two announcements today represent a very significant and a very welcome extension of the vaccine programme, and they will help us considerably in our on-going efforts against this virus. To anyone eligible for vaccination, please take up the opportunity. The final point about vaccination that I want to touch on very briefly is certification for certain venues, which Parliament approved in principle last week. We are now working with businesses, events organisers and sports governing bodies to finalise the detail of the regulations and sector-specific guidance. Covid certification has already been introduced in many countries across Europe and many of them have already gone much further than we are proposing. We know that this is not a magic wand, but we believe that as part of a package of measures it can help to reduce transmission while keeping our economy and our society open, which is, of course, what all of us want to see. I will close by emphasising again the key things that all of us can do to help and to ensure that we keep infections on a downward track. First, as I have already been talking extensively about, please get vaccinated if you are eligible and you have not yet done so. Secondly, please continue to test yourself regularly with lateral flow devices. You can order them through NHS Inform or collect them from a local test site or pharmacy. If you test positive or you are identified as a close contact or if you have symptoms of Covid, please self-isolate and book a PCR test. Thirdly, and finally, please continue to comply with the mitigations still in place. Please wear face coverings in indoor public places such as shops, public transport and when moving about in hospitality settings. Think carefully about the number of contacts you are having and perhaps reduce any that are not strictly necessary. Meet outdoors as much as possible, indoors, open windows if you can. Although it is not the law anymore, try to keep a safe distance from people in other households, especially when you are indoors, and remember to continue to wash your hands and surfaces thoroughly. All of that, as we can see in the most recent data, really does make a difference, so please stick with it and let's get cases down even further. The First Minister will now take questions on the issues raised in her statement. I intend to allow around 40 minutes for questions after which we will move on to the next item of business. It would be helpful if members who wish to ask a question were to press the request to speak buttons now. I call Douglas Ross. Thank you, Presiding Officer. It's good to hear that cases are down week on week, but our NHS continues to face considerable pressure. We've seen long waiting times for ambulances and lengthy queues for people to see their GP. Even if the First Minister won't accept it, our NHS is in crisis and our health service needs more support. Today, on top of all the issues facing our NHS, figures on suspected drug deaths were published that are once again shocking and heartbreaking in equal measure. After seven consecutive years of record drug deaths here in Scotland, problems still seem to be getting worse. When will the First Minister and her Government finally tackle this national scandal? Turning to the announcements on vaccines being delivered for 12 to 15-year-olds and boosterjacks, both of those measures have the potential to be game-changing in halting the spread of Covid this winter, but we need some more answers on the delivery of those games. The First Minister mentions dropping clinics for young people. Will there also be mobile vaccination units at every school to encourage uptake, particularly in areas where vaccination rates are low? On boosterjacks, the First Minister said that the programme will run alongside the existing flu programme, but are there also plans to use mass vaccination centres? On vaccine passports, the First Minister says that she is finalising the detail and is, I quote, now working with business. Why didn't this happen weeks ago? Finally, the First Minister told us that the Cabinet decided this morning not to make immediate changes to Covid regulations. What restrictions did her cabinet consider reintroducing? Cabinet did not consider any additional restrictions this morning because the data that I have narrated suggests that cases are starting to fall. We keep those things under review on a weekly basis. We would be deeply irresponsible not to do that, but the decision of Cabinet today is that it was not necessary to introduce any further restrictions at this stage. Let me quickly run through the other points. Forgive me if I heard wrongly, I was struggling at points to hear Douglas Ross, but he said at one point that I did not accept that there was pressure on the national health service. Not only do I accept that there is pressure on the national health service, but I spend a significant considerable amount of time, as indeed the health secretary does, reminding people of just how much pressure there is on the NHS and why it is so important for Government to do everything through resources and support for health boards and co-operation and collaborative working with health boards to support those on the front line of the NHS, but also why it is important for all of us to behave in a way that reduces Covid cases and therefore tries to help alleviate that pressure. It is also why, while none of us like those things, we are or would be irresponsible not to take advantage of all of the different levers that we have at our disposal to try to push cases down. That includes, of course, Covid certification. On the issue of drugs deaths, this Government takes that extremely seriously. Douglas Ross may not agree with this, as is his right, but there is a significant package of work under way right now, backed by a significant additional resource to tackle drugs deaths. The Drugs Minister, who reports directly to me, is overseeing that on a daily basis. It involves and includes new standards for treatment to include same-day access to treatment, a wider range of treatment options, more funding for community organisations, more funding for rehabilitation, including residential rehabilitation. We will continue to take the action that is necessary to bear down on those unacceptable figures. On the questions about vaccination, we received the CMO advice on 12 to 15-year-olds yesterday. We received the JCVI advice on the booster programme this morning. There will be more or finer, more granular detail available in the coming days, but we are giving today the start date for 12 to 15-year-olds and indeed the start date for the booster programme, which is Monday coming. Drop-in clinics are already available right across the country. There is drop-in clinics in every mainland health board area. Those will be available from Monday for young people. There will then be appointment letters issued with specific appointments for those who do not take advantage of drop-in. We will use school vaccination to make sure that we are reaching as many as possible. The judgment has been made that in order to facilitate and support maximum informed consent and involvement in parents and carers using clinics and appointments in the initial stages, it is better than to do that through schools initially. Our aim is to get to as many as possible and encourage as many in that age group to take up the offer of vaccination. We will use all the existing resources—mobile clinics and all the other resources—to maximise uptake as far as possible. Lastly, there was a point about flu vaccination and mask clinics. The flu vaccine programme will be delivered through a combination of GPs and vaccination clinics. Not every health board will do that exactly the same, but the flu vaccination programme will start first together with the booster Covid vaccine in our older residents' care homes. That is a massive undertaking for health boards, but given how well they have so far progressed the Covid vaccination programme, we should all have great confidence in their plans to deliver the next stages of that with flu vaccination. Lastly, we work with businesses on an on-going basis. We will continue to do that. None of us want to be in a situation where we still have to deal with this virus, but it is important that we do that, that we do that resolutely, and that we continue to do all the things that we are doing right now to keep that down with pressure on cases. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I start by sending my condolences to all those who have lost their loved one in the last 24 hours or indeed throughout this pandemic. The route to something that looks like normal again for Scotland remains through testing, tracing and vaccination. Last week, I called for front-line NHS and social care workers to be included in the early booster programme. I am pleased to hear today that that will be happening, but given the high levels of cases in schools, surely that should also include teachers and support staff. I also highlighted concerns about test and protect, not functioning in our schools. I welcome movement on that today, but there is still work to do. I think that we will look back and think that pulling back test and protect was a catastrophic decision. I know that there is still no detail in how vaccine passports will operate, yet we are expecting businesses and individuals to implement them in just two weeks' time. Instead, the focus should be on strengthening our existing systems. Test and protect is still failing to meet world health organisation standards. It is as low as 60 per cent in some areas. Last week, the First Minister referenced 72 hours from when they log on the system. That is a pretty heavy caveat. Also note that the average number of primary contacts per case has fallen to 1.5. That is the positive case and half a person. Just a matter of weeks ago, that figure was 3.4. So, will the First Minister commit to fixing test and protect and supporting the staff than rushing through an ineffective new system? The Scottish Government has also been saying that it has been planning for months rightly for the roll-out of vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds. The news that the letters are only going to go out from the end of this month is a bit disappointing. As we get to those harder-to-reach people, we should not be asking people to go to vaccination centres but rather taking people asking the vaccination centres to go to people. Will the First Minister commit that every child that wants a vaccine will be able to get it, that they can get it at school and that they should get it before the October holidays? We should not miss that opportunity. Surely that should be the plan if it has been in the planning for months. On 12 to 15-year-olds, because it is probably the most important issue that we are covering today, we received the final advice yesterday. Any 12 to 15-year-old who wants to be vaccinated will be able to be vaccinated from Monday. That is less than a week. Why is there a few days in between because we have got to make sure that taking account of the final advice that we only got yesterday, we make available the information that young people themselves and their parents and carers will want to consider before making an informed choice? That is why there are a few days before vaccination will start. However, I think that most reasonable people, which may or may not include Anas Sarwar, will think that that is a pretty speedy start to that programme. We have taken a judgment that, in the initial stages, it is better to use drop-in clinics and vaccination appointments because that better facilitates the involvement of parents and carers in the decisions and in accompanying young people to their vaccine so that questions can be answered and concerns addressed. However, yes, every young person and doing it this way will be quicker than trying to put effectively a new programme in place in schools. Doing it through the mechanisms and the infrastructure that has been available now for most of this year will actually allow us to get under way with this more quickly. We will then use school vaccination to make sure that nobody is losing out on the ability to be vaccinated. Having spent a fair bit of time with the health secretary looking at those plans in detail, I think that that is the best and the quickest way to proceed. On the booster campaign, Anas Sarwar says that he would like teachers to be included. Teachers that are in the over-50 age group or in the under-50 age group with particular underlying health conditions will be included. However, I suppose that the key point of difference between Anas Sarwar and I is that perhaps it is because I have the responsibility of implementing those decisions. We have to base them on expert advice. We have to base them on the recommendations that come from those who have the expertise to give us those. I am a politician. It is not for me to second-guest the experts when it comes to vaccination. Test and protect is functioning well. When cases are high, it is under significant pressure, and we support it to do that as cases reduce, as they are now. Thankfully, that pressure will reduce as well. Test and protect has never stopped functioning in schools, and it is not correct to say that it has. It is functioning on a more targeted basis in order that it can protect people from the risk of infection without undue and unnecessary disruption to young people's education. That is an important aim to have. Vaccine certification is not instead of doing all the other things, it is in addition to that. One of the things that we have learned is that we need to use all the levers at our disposal to bear down on cases to the maximum effect. We will continue to take proportionate targeted action to keep cases coming down and hopefully get through this winter without the need to impose any restrictions and to keep our economy and our society open. Alex Cole-Hamilton I say for the record that Covid ID cards must be ruled out for children because there should be no external pressure on families when deciding about the vaccine. Last week, the First Minister lent in to the words of Professor Stephen Riker to justify this ID card scheme, but he has actually against it. She implied that the events industry, Jeff Ellis, supported it too. He does not. In fact, he told me today and I quote, I am prepared to support a drive to encourage young people to get the vaccine, but that is different to saying that you are going to exclude them if they don't. The First Minister is running out of experts to quote, so will she cancel Covid ID cards for all age groups today? The First Minister No, I won't because I think it is really important that we don't rule out measures that many people accept. Even Stephen Riker, who is on balance, has decided that he does not think that they are a good idea. He recognises that they have advantages and that there are benefits. When we are facing a situation right now where cases have been high— Colleagues, sorry, First Minister. I am finding it difficult to hear the First Minister. I would be grateful if we could all hear the First Minister. Where we are desperately trying to keep cases under control while keeping our economy open, I think that it would be a foolish Government that simply ruled out anything. If you look at the sage position, they recognise that vaccine certification can play a part in reducing transmission. Indeed, after a fanfare at the weekend of suggesting that it had ruled them out, the UK Government has been very clear today that it is keeping the option of vaccine certification open. Even without doing it on a mandatory basis, it is encouraging venues to do it voluntarily. I think that it is really important that we do not limit our options here because we want to get through this winter with everything open and with cases at a manageable level. That is what we will continue to try to do. I make no apology for that. Of course, we will continue to involve Parliament fully in the detail of it. Stuart McMillan, to be followed by Sharon Dowie. Can the First Minister provide an update on the work being conducted to establish an independent public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus pandemic in Scotland? We will continue to work across the education sector to make sure that we take all appropriate actions to support the safe return of teaching to ensure that physical distancing remains in place, that face coverings continue to be used and that vaccination continues to be encouraged. There is an opportunity over the next few weeks to really maximise the uptake of vaccination and to use testing to full extent as well. There is a big responsibility on the part of everybody here to make sure that everything possible has been done to reduce the risk of outbreaks in the weeks to come. Sharon Dowie, to be followed by Christine Grahame. As the First Minister will know, this week, NHS Aeoshawn Arran have elective surgeries and suspended visiting and less essential. A and E has reached breaking point. I have also been contacted by staff at Crosshouse hospital who say that cancer operations have been cancelled due to a lack of beds, while nurses are quitting the profession due to chronic understaffing. The First Minister has boasted of how many nurses we have, but staff at NHS Aeoshawn Arran feel angry, unsupported and light down. What action will the First Minister take to improve staffing levels at Crosshouse and can she guarantee that all cancer treatment at NHS Aeoshawn Arran will resume by the end of the month? Let me take the opportunity again today to express my gratitude to everybody, nurses and everybody else working so hard across the national health service. We have a record number of staff in our health service. That includes nurses, but of course we need to do more to support them. We have a commitment over the period of this Parliament to further increase those working in our national health service. We will continue to work closely with health boards to make sure that they are supported to minimise any need to postpone or cancel elective treatments to make sure that the most urgent treatment and cancer treatment, of course, is part of that definition, continues as people need it to do. However, there is a real fact at the heart of this. If we are to get our NHS back to normal, which everybody is working hard to do, we need to get Covid cases coming down further and keep Covid cases down. It perhaps is a comment that is particularly relevant to those in the Conservative benches. We need to be prepared to take the action that gets Covid cases down. Over the past few weeks, almost everything that we have proposed in terms of the mitigations to try to reduce Covid cases have been opposed by those in the Conservative benches. Covid cases will not fall off their own accord, they will only fall through the actions that individually and collectively we take. If we want to reduce the pressure on our national health service, which we all desperately want to do, we need to keep doing all the things that we know will reduce transmission of the virus. Christine Grahame, to be followed by Jackie Baillie. On cross-border vaccination between England and Scotland, the advice is that if you live in Scotland and you have received your first, second or both vaccine doses outside of Scotland, but in the common travel area, which includes England, you should now be able to get your vaccination status via the normal process by an online copy or phoning the Covid helpline. However, when my constituents phoned the helpline, they are told that they need to request proof of that vaccination in England from NHS England. There seems to be confusion here, can you perhaps clarify? Everybody recognises that it is really important to have consistency for schemes that operate across the UK so that citizens can travel easily between different parts of the UK. The app that we have designed is designed to offer interoperability across not just the UK but the common travel area, which includes Ireland as well as the Crown dependencies. That said, it is right and proper that we design a scheme that is right for Scotland and works first and foremost in our context and offers us the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances. Work is well underway to ensure that where a person has their first and second vaccinations, either side of the border, this is fully and appropriately recorded, and I will ask the health secretary to put further information on the detail of that into space. Jackie Baillie, to be followed by Siobhan Brown. First Minister, I have a number of recent cases of people who have applied for a self-isolation grant and yet eight to 11 weeks later they have not yet received any support. This is causing enormous pressure on household finances, especially for those on low incomes, and many may be forced to return to work for financial reasons even though their self-isolation period has not ended. I am told by Westin Bartonshire Council that this delay is because the local authority had not received money from the Scottish Government. Can I ask the First Minister if that is true and what action she will take to ensure that self-isolation payments are now made promptly? I am certainly not aware of that being the case but I will look into that just to make sure that it is not and if there is any issue there I will undertake to make sure that that is resolved. Obviously not everybody who applies for a self-isolation payment is eligible for a self-isolation payment. If Jackie Baillie wants to send them to me, I am happy to look into the circumstances but on the specific issue of flow of resource, while I am not aware of that being an issue, I will undertake to investigate it. Last week I met with a United Football Club chair and directors to listen to their concerns regarding vaccine certificates. Can the First Minister please provide an update on what training and support will be in place for businesses, events and sporting stadiums who need to implement the vaccination certification next month? The provision of training and support is important. We are currently working with sectors on an ongoing basis, as we have said previously, on all the different operational issues around certification. We are working right now to provide appropriate guidance, sector-specific guidance that will allow businesses to provide information and appropriate training to staff. Obviously that has to be sector-specific because the requirements in, for example, a nightclub with a relatively small number of people will be different to the requirements at a stadium that has many people going through it. That is the sector-specific guidance that is currently being developed and finalised. First Minister, it is almost two weeks since you first announced the introduction of vaccine passports. We have just heard from the Covid recovery secretary that there is still no definition of what a nightclub is, and I am not talking about the Google definition. With the scheme due to start in less than three weeks' time, can you tell businesses when a definition will be given to them and why it is taking so long? It is taking a bit of time because we are doing what Conservative members usually ask us to do and say that we do not do enough, which is consulting with the businesses in affected sectors to make sure that we get the granular detail of this correct. We will finalise the definition very soon. It is a definition that is going to take account of, for example, whether settings are open between particular hours, whether they are serving alcohol between those hours, whether there is space for dancing and live or recorded music. We are taking the time to make sure that we properly consult with the Nighttime Industries Association just to get the detail of that right, and we will publish it soon once that work has concluded. Throughout the last year, I have been in regular contact with constituents who were vaccine trial participants. Can the First Minister provide an assurance that trial participants will be included in the forthcoming vaccine certification scheme? That is an important issue for those who did take part in vaccine trials. Again, let me thank anybody who did that. We have been very clear that nobody who took part in a trial will be disadvantaged. The scheme will recognise their vaccination for domestic purposes. All clinical trial participants have already received a letter from their principal investigator, which can be used for proof of their trial status. That has provided an interim measure to enable people to gain access to domestic venues where certification is required. Recently, we have also issued participants with a record of vaccination that contains a 1D barcode and security features consistent with all records of vaccination. Millions of children around the world have already been vaccinated in the UK, significantly behind other countries in its roll-out to young people. As the First Minister's outline cases are beginning to fall, but numbers are still far too high and it is vital that we vaccinate 12 to 15-year-olds as quickly as possible. What action will the Scottish Government take to encourage take-up of the vaccine for this specific age group? How can we encourage to look after children, particularly young carers, to ensure that they get their vaccines? As I said earlier, we will move as quickly as possible, but we will also move in a way and at pace that allows informed consent to be arrived at. Particularly for this age group, that is really important. I have expressed frustration in the past that it has taken so long to get to this point, but we are where we are and now what is important is that we move forward at pace. What is going to be really important here is the information that is provided, which needs to be accessible for young people themselves, not just for their adult parents or carers. It is really important that those who are in drop-in clinics or vaccination clinics are available to address concerns and answer questions. Of course, vaccinators are used to doing this with other vaccination programmes, so they are best placed to do that. We strike the right balance between, as I will do unreservedly, to encourage people in this age group to really engage with this and get vaccinated, but also to be understanding about the issues and the questions that younger people will have. If we proceed on that basis, we will get every reason to be confident that we will achieve uptake levels in this age group, as good as we have in other age groups as well. We know that long Covid cannot be properly handled with a one-size-fits-all approach due to both its complexity and the diversity of its symptoms. Can you advise us which steps the Scottish Government can take to ensure that different health boards have flexibility to deliver the care that local people living with long Covid need? James Donnell is absolutely right that we cannot, and I don't think that any country will be able to have a one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with long Covid. We are trying to recognise the need for flexibility in all the approaches that we are taking. As James Donnell will be aware, we recently established a £10 million long Covid support fund that is an additional resource that is designed to strengthen services across the country for people with long Covid. We are also working with boards and others to identify where that additional resource is most needed and where it will have the biggest impact for those who are affected. The key to that is, as James Donnell rightly says, is supporting health boards to deliver tailored responses to meet the differing needs of people with long Covid. That will allow people to access services that are appropriate to their own health needs but also appropriate to the part of the country that they are living in. I very much hope that that fund will lead to a lot of developments in the weeks and months to come that will help those living with that condition. Rona Mackay, to be followed by Edward Mountain. Can the First Minister provide an update on the Scottish Government's latest engagement with the UK Government regarding international travel restrictions? There is regular official-level dialogue on border health measures and there is, indeed, due to be a four nations ministerial meeting this week addressing the regular review of country risk ratings and looking at some wider policy issues. We expect that meeting will take place on Thursday morning, as usual. There is a lot of speculation in the media about the UK Government's intentions here. I should say that that speculation is happening before those intentions have been properly discussed with counterparts in the devolved administrations. We do want to work on a four nations basis wherever we possibly can, but we will aim to make further announcements on any future changes on a four nations basis, hopefully after proper consideration and discussion. Edward Mountain, to be followed by Fiona Hyslop. Thank you, Presiding Officer. First Minister, the Covid pandemic has shown us just how important our front-line NHS staff are—a point that you stressed this afternoon. The pressures that they face mean that we must protect their wellbeing and provide them with really high-quality leadership. Recent surveys, however, suggest that bullying, even during the pandemic, remains a problem within NHS Highland. Last week, your Cabinet Secretary renamed on your Government's promise to bring forward a debate on this issue in the Parliament. First Minister, do you support him, and are you happy with him breaking your Government's promise? First Minister, bullying in the national health service is unacceptable, as bullying is unacceptable in any setting. There is no hesitation. I think that what the health secretary said was that our priority right now is that most people would understand as to deal with all the various Covid-related issues, not least the extension to the vaccination programme. I am perfectly happy for a debate to be held in this Parliament in Government time, if that is the view. I think that the Tories have opposition business tomorrow, where it would have been an option for them. It is entirely up to them to debate this in their time, but I am happy to repeat that commitment, that when we are able to, we will bring forward in Government time a debate on this issue. Fiona Hyslop to be followed by Michael Marra. Can the First Minister say what discussions the Scottish Government has had with the UK Government about its vaccine procurement contract with Valneva in Westlothian? Valneva is a well-established vaccine production facility previously visited by both the Prime Minister and the then UK-based Secretary of State on separate visits during the pandemic. I thank Fiona Hyslop for the question and recognise her constituency interest in this alongside that of Angela Constance, of course. I know that she was in the chamber when the health secretary answered a question on this a few moments ago. In terms of the UK Government's decision to terminate the contract with Valneva, that was taken by the UK Government unilactually, as the health secretary has indicated, he was informed of that on Saturday by the Secretary of State for Health. We do not have full details of everything that lies behind that decision, although I know that the Secretary of State for Health has indicated in the Commons today that it may have been that the vaccine would not have received MHRA approval, but I would repeat the call from our own health secretary that the UK Government should publish all of the relevant information around this in terms of transparency. For the Scottish Government's part, Scottish Enterprise is already in contact with the company. We will do everything we can to support the company in light of this decision, because, obviously, we want to see that facility, not just remain in Livingston, but go from strength to strength in the future. We will do everything we can to support that. I think that it is important to reiterate, although the health secretary has already made it, that decision, however regrettable it may be, does not affect our ability to extend the vaccination programme in the ways that we have been talking about today. The figures show that just 5 per cent of senior pupils in Scotland took a Covid test last week, as Covid-related school absences are soaring. With test and protect virtually non-existent in schools and no tangible action yet taken on ventilation in classrooms, testing is one of the only tools of defence that the Government has made available to keep pupils and staff safe and to minimise further educational disruption. What immediate action can the First Minister take to increase those testing figures? Firstly, it is not the case that lateral flow testing is the only mitigation that has been applied in schools. The work around carbon dioxide monitors, leading to the assessment of ventilation, is under way. There is a range of other mitigations in place. Of course, contact tracing has not been ended in schools that have been done, I think rightly, on a more targeted and proportionate basis. Before the summer holidays, we knew that there were significant numbers of young people having their education disrupted when that was not strictly necessary. In terms of how we get more young people to take LFD tests, we make them available free of charge. They are easily accessible. It is incumbent on all of us, both in the chamber and within our constituency networks, and in every possible way to encourage young people to do those tests. I understand that, for young people in particular, they are not pleasant, they are inconvenient but they provide us with an added layer of protections. I take the opportunity today to encourage all young people and to encourage parents and carers to take up the opportunity of LFD testing twice a week. On an additional basis, if you get one of those low-risk contact letters. Covid vaccination certificates will play an important role in reducing risk while maximising our ability to keep open certain settings and events where transmission is a higher risk. It is important that staff at venues affected are properly supported to implement the scheme. Can the First Minister provide an update as to the work being conducted to prepare detailed guidance on how to use the NHS Scotland Covid Check Verifier app? I think that we should remember that 85 per cent of the adult population are now fully vaccinated. That number is increasing on a daily basis. In Scotland, there was an 11 per cent increase in first doses for 18 to 29-year-olds in the 12 days following our announcement of Covid certification compared to the previous 12 days. Again, we can see, albeit on an early basis, that it is having an impact in driving up vaccination uptake. We encourage everyone to get vaccinated. There will be some people who have not completed their full vaccination course when the certification scheme comes into place. People can check their vaccination status of course through NHS Inform, and there are details available of how to do that. The app will go live later this month, which again makes the system even easier. Those are all things that none of us want to have to do. I hope that that does not have to be in place for very long, but while it can give us an added layer of protection, particularly as we go into the winter months, it is important that we take advantage of it. Jenny Minto, to be followed by Maurice Golden. Can the First Minister provide an update as to the Scottish Government's work to respond to the global impacts of Covid-19? That is a really important question, because while we understandably and rightly to some extent focus on the domestic impact and implications of Covid, it is a global pandemic, and none of us will be truly safe from it until it is under control well under control across the whole world. In summary, and I can provide more information for those who are interested, we have provided support to our existing international partners. We undertook a review of our approach to international development at an earlier stage of the pandemic so that we could better target support. We have authorised over £3 million of support from our international development fund targeting Covid-specific initiatives in our partner countries, which are Malawi, Rwanda, Zambia and Pakistan. That includes £2 million to UNICEF to help prepare health systems to distribute vaccines and £0.5 million to support vaccine roll-outs, online learning and healthcare. More recently, our donations of vital medical supplies include oxygen concentrators, ventilators and PPE through the NHS Scotland global citizenship programme. We also sent oxygen and ventilation equipment to India. Lastly, our humanitarian emergency fund has supported vulnerable communities in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan and Afghanistan. My 31-year-old constituent received a first dose of AstraZeneca before others in her age group because she was in an at-risk group. When it subsequently emerged, those in that age group were being offered the Pfizer vaccine, my constituent opted not to receive the second AstraZeneca dose after discussing with her GP. Would it be possible for those in this particular category to be granted a vaccine certificate in order to access certain venues? I think that the advice for somebody in that position is to get the second dose of vaccine, but I obviously do not want to say too much about the individual case because clearly there has been GP input and advice there. I am very happy to look into that issue in more detail and come back with a considered answer rather than one before having had the opportunity to properly consider it. I think that the default position is that we would encourage people to complete their second doses, but if there are circumstances in which that cannot for good reason be done, then obviously we would want to take full account of that. I will ask the health secretary to write to the member once we have had an opportunity to consider it further. I want to come back to the issue around cross-border because the First Minister knows that every day thousands of my constituents travel just a few miles to Cumbria and Northumberland for what many for the NHS, so naturally they were vaccinated by their employer in England. They cannot get a vaccine certificate from NHS England because they are registered with a GP in Scotland. They cannot get a vaccine certificate from NHS Scotland because there is no record of their vaccination. I am dealing with cases already where NHS staff cannot get a well-earned break because they cannot get a vaccine certification. The First Minister says that action is taking place at the moment to resolve it, so can she give a category assurance that if this is rolled out to events and nightclubs in just two weeks' time, none of my constituents will be denied getting a vaccine certificate simply because they were vaccinated in England? Yes, I do want to give that assurance. Clearly, we are working to resolve the cross-border issues. As anybody would realise, we are not in control of what happens in England, so it is not something that we can do unilaterally. That is why the discussions between Governments are important here. We hope and expect that there will be a solution in place soon, and we will make the details of that known, but it is in nobody's interest to disadvantage anybody. We want that the whole point of vaccination certification is to allow people to go about their normal lives and not have to see those places close or be unable to access them. This is about enabling activity in the economy and not the reverse. Thank you. We know that the detail of the Scottish Government's plans for vaccine passports has been severely lacking, so I ask the First Minister if all those eligible for vaccination will be required to have a vaccine passport for certain events. If, as is now recommended by the UK's CMO, 12 to 15-year-olds will be offered a single vaccine dose, would that mean that a 14-year-old might need to have a vaccine passport just to go and watch their local football club play if the attendance is over 10,000 people? The requirement for vaccination certification does not apply to 12 to 15-year-olds, so that point is not relevant in that regard. I will not repeat all the points that I have made about the on-going work to develop the finalised detail around the operation of the vaccine on a sector-specific basis. However, in terms of the detail of the vaccination certification programme in Scotland, it is identical to that published on page 24 of the UK Government's document today, where they set out their continued, they call it plan B, but the continued plans to introduce vaccine certification should it be required. The only difference is that we are trying to give businesses here certainty. The UK Government appeared to have removed that certainty and are just saying that maybe they will and maybe they won't, but the level of detail is pretty identical. Thank you. That concludes the First Minister's statement. Point of order, Stephen Kerr. For the second time in two weeks, the First Minister has read the wrong prescripted answer to her backbenchers prescripted question. Stewart McMillan asked about the inquiry into the Scottish Government's handling of the pandemic. The First Minister's answer was all about schools. So, can you, Presiding Officer, please advise as to what options there are to ensure that we hear an answer to the question that was actually asked? Thank you. Thank you, Mr Kerr, for his point of order. The content of members' contributions is, of course, not a matter for me. There is a mechanism by which members may accurately reflect any change that they may wish to make via the official report. As I was saying, that concludes the First Minister's statement, Covid-19 update, and there will be a short suspension before the next item of business.