VACCINE PASSPORTS…THE FLAWS

HANVEY CALLS ON  SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT TO DITCH “UNFAIR AND

UNWORKABLE” VACCINE PASSPORTS

ALBA Party Westminster Group Leader Neale Hanvey MP has today (Friday) called on the Scottish Government to ditch “unfair and unworkable” Vaccine Passports as the initiative is proving to be “a costly and discriminatory fiasco”.  Mr Hanvey revealed that the Vaccine passport app only allows those with a driver’s licence or a passport to sign up to the scheme. He has also alleged that the technology has failed his repeated attempts to register as the app refuses to verify the photo on both his personal driver’s licence and passport.

Mr Hanvey has been critical of the scheme since it was announced and claimed yesterday in a Twitter response to the news Cabinet Secretary Kate Forbes MP had been infected, despite having had two vaccinations, that without a comprehensive infection control strategy, the scheme risks giving false confidence and was little more than a “gimmick”.

Mr Hanvey has repeatedly stated the importance of vaccination and led calls at the start of this summer for young people to be given access to the vaccine before the start of the new school year. 

In a statement Mr Hanvey said:

“As someone who has dealt with infection control and its management most of my professional life, The Scottish Government have got this initiative badly wrong on many levels. However, this morning whilst attempting to set up my own Vaccine Passport, I discovered that unless you possess either a passport or a drivers licence you will be excluded from this scheme, and prevented from attending nightclubs, music venues and other large events.

“Whilst that is bad enough, I have been unable to complete my own registration as the app refuses to verify the photo component on my driver’s licence or my passport meaning I can’t obtain a vaccine passport should I need one. I don’t know the cost of this scheme yet, but this is an absolute fiasco in the making. Did the Scottish Government test the app sensitivity? Did they give any thought to the social and economic exclusion of those who can ill-afford either a passport or a driver’s licence?

“This scheme must be halted with immediate effect, it’s unfair and unworkable and we must be told the cost of this mess. I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health today to seek an explanation for the exclusion of so many people and have asked him to set out the cost of this fiasco.

“The SNP recently dubbed the Tories similar requirement for voting as ‘Trump-like plans to disenfranchise thousands of voters across Scotland’. Well, this is no less Trump-like and is a further punishing blow to those in poverty and removes any legitimacy they have from attacks on the Westminster Tories plans to undermine democracy with photo ID for voting.

“We already know that without a comprehensive infection control strategy, the vaccination passport scheme risks giving false confidence and is little more than a ‘gimmick’.  Now we know it  is a chaotic, discriminatory and costly one.  That is why I am calling for it to be ditched without delay.”

ENDS

LETTER TO THE CABINET SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Mr Humza Yousaf MSP

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care

Scottish Government

St Andrew’s House

2 Regent Road

EDINBURGH

EH1 3DG

Dear Cabinet Secretary

Re: Vaccine Passport Disenfranchisement

As someone with considerable professional and clinical leadership experience in the management and prevention of infection you may know I have been vocal in my criticism of your plans to introduce so-called Vaccine Passports. I believe their clinical usefulness in suppressing infection will be marginal without a robust infection control strategy underpinning their use. That is, continued roll out of vaccines and the development of adjacent treatment development such as monoclonal antibody therapies, the continuation of non-pharmaceutical controls measures and detailed epidemiological and genomic surveillance.

Further to the above I discovered this morning whilst attempting to set up my own Vaccine Passport that unless you possess either a passport or a drivers licence you will be excluded from this scheme and therefore prevented in attending any nightclubs, music venues and other large events.

Your Party recently dubbed the Westminster Tories similar requirement for voting as “Trump-like plans to disenfranchise thousands of voters across Scotland”. Well, this is no less Trump-like and is a further punishing blow to those in poverty facing cuts to Universal Credits and Working Tax Credits.

Whilst this is of great concern, I have been unable to complete my own registration as the app refuses to verify the photo component on my driver’s licence or my passport and therefore I am unable to obtain a vaccine passport should I need one. Cabinet Secretary, this is a fiasco.

Can you therefore advise me of the following? Did the Scottish Government test the app sensitivity for photo ID? Did they give any thought to the social and economic exclusion of those who can ill-afford either a passport or a driver’s licence? What is the cost, to date of this initiative and who will take responsibility for this calamity?

I would urge you to halt this deeply flawed scheme with immediate effect, it’s unfair and frankly unworkable and we must be told the cost of this mess.

I look forward to your early response on this very serious matter.

Your sincerely

Neale Hanvey MP

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